


A Tangled Phantom

by inukagome15



Series: A Tangled Phantom [1]
Category: Danny Phantom, Tangled (2010)
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2018-01-04 00:49:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1075096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inukagome15/pseuds/inukagome15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sam wishes to be a part of the <i>Tangled</i> universe and Danny is not happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't a new work; I'm just moving it over. It was originally published in 2011, so my writing is just a tad bit different. The story's kind of cracky, but it's also serious. If that makes any sense at all...

 “That was an _awesome_ movie!” Samantha Manson, or Sam, exclaimed, stretching in the sunlight.

Daniel Fenton, or Danny, raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. “I thought you didn’t like Disney movies?”

“I don’t like movies where the girls are little victims. This one has a girl who’s touting a frying pan!” Sam grinned enthusiastically. “I thought the trailer looked awesome.”

“I liked the horse,” Danny commented. “I never thought I’d see one act like a dog.”

Sam cocked an eyebrow at the black-haired sixteen-year-old. She leaned against a pillar of the movie hall they were standing outside of. “You saying horses can’t act like dogs?”

“They don’t sit when told to and they certainly don’t act like bloodhounds,” Danny said. “What’s more, they don’t act like paper shredders.”

“That was one of the funniest scenes in the movie!”

Danny had to stifle a snicker. “Yeah, it was. I couldn’t stop laughing.”

“And the lantern scene!” Sam sighed, resting her head back against the pillar and closing her eyes. “That was the best scene I have ever seen in a movie.”

“Aren’t you glad you saw it in 3-D after all?”

“I still hate 3-D but that scene made it all worth it,” Sam said. “In fact, just for that, I’m getting the DVD in 3-D.”

Danny leaned against the pillar as well. “Aren’t all your DVDs in 3-D since your parents got the latest 3-D TV?”

Sam shrugged. “Nuance.” She flashed a grin. “Flynn Rider is definitely one of the best heroes I’ve ever seen in an animated movie.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “What about me?”

“You’re cool,” Sam said dismissively, a teasing light in her lilac eyes.

“At least I’m not a thief,” Danny retaliated.

“You’d be a better one,” Sam said, smirking. “For one thing, you wouldn’t get caught.”

“That’s true,” he acknowledged, disappearing from view for a moment to reappear on her other side.

“Man,” Sam sighed, staring up into the sky. She was oblivious to the other movie goers around them. “What I wouldn’t give to live in that universe for only a little bit.”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked curiously.

Sam shrugged and took Danny’s hand, pulling him away from the weekend crowds. “It’s a happily-ever-after universe. There’s some bad stuff in it but it always works out in the end. Things are simpler in a way. There’s even magic.”

Danny made a face. “You don’t call having ghost powers magic?”

“Sorry, ghost boy. Ghost powers come with the job of being a half-ghost superhero. Magic _hair_ on the other hand is something to be proud of.”

The teasing lilt in Sam’s voice told him she wasn’t being serious. “Ah… So by your definition, there’s nothing magical in our world at all? That’s funny. I seriously thought having a ghost portal in my basement was magic.”

“Stunning people and levitating objects are magic,” Sam retorted.

“I’m learning how to levitate things,” Danny said defensively. “It’s getting there.”

Sam flicked the bangs hovering over his blue eyes. “But you don’t have hair that opens wardrobes or brings down chandeliers.”

“Neither do you.” Danny tugged the short black ponytail she had some of her hair in. “Unless you’re hiding something in that house of yours.”

Sam grinned and waved his hand away, latching her fingers into his and pulling them onto a less crowded street. They were now nearing the residential area of Amity Park. “Regardless, I would love to live in _Tangled_. There’s so much there that you can’t find here.”

“But that’s why it’s a movie,” Danny said quietly. “It gives people the chance to live somewhere else, even if it’s only for ninety minutes.”

Sam shot him a look, seeing the subdued light in her boyfriend’s eyes. “You’ve thought about this, huh?”

He gave a shrug, smiling lightly. “When you’re a half-ghost who’s constantly fighting ghosts and keeping the media off his back, you wish things would get a little easier.” A blue wisp floated out of his mouth to prove his point and he turned his head, seeing a familiar blue and chubby ghost wave at him from the corner. “On the plus side, ghosts like him are getting easier to deal with.” He waved back, seeing the box the Box Ghost was holding up with a pleased grin. The ghost disappeared from view.

“What would you do if you were in _Tangled_?” Sam asked him.

Danny mulled that over. “Well…I guess I’d just live in the town.”

“No. I mean, what would you do if you could change the events of the movie?”

“Strangle Gothel,” Danny said wryly, thinking of the evil black-haired woman. “I wanted to bash _her_ with the frying pan.”

“I’d do the same,” Sam agreed, grinning. “I’d also have the time of my life in that dance Rapunzel dragged the entire square into.”

“Yay. Dancing,” Danny said sarcastically.

Sam snorted. “It’s not that bad, Danny. Tucker could always take you for lessons.”

“It’s too bad Tucker doesn’t have that much time anymore,” he muttered, pulling her down onto a bench by a bus stop.

“That’s another thing that would be great about living in that universe,” Sam said. “Endless time to hang out and drink in pubs like the Snuggly Duckling.”

“There’s no technology,” Danny pointed out. “He’d die of withdrawal within five minutes.”

“He’d live,” Sam said, rolling her eyes. “But I wish…”

“ _Sam_ ,” Danny warned, looking around warily.

“Relax, Danny. She’s not here.” Sam kicked her legs out, closing her eyes as she exhaled. “I wish we were in _Tangled_.”

A soft chuckling filled the air around them and Danny sprang to his feet, eyes flashing green. “So you have wished it…”

He glared accusingly at Sam, who simply shrugged sheepishly. She didn’t look very sorry.

“…so it shall be!”

“ _Desiree_!” Danny shouted, a bluish-white ring forming at his midsection. Before he could transform, though, a greenish smoke surrounded him and Sam. Reflexively, he inhaled before he could think the better of it.

Then he was gone.

* * *

It was snuffling that woke him. Snuffling and something sniffing his hair. Groaning, he raised an arm and made to push it away. His hand met something warm and wet that was breathing on him.

Thinking that he might want to see what was standing above him, Danny opened his eyes slowly, blinking as he came face to face with something dark gray that did not resemble anything he had ever seen before in his life.

It was a horse.

“Aargh!” Danny scrambled backwards from the horse, pressing backwards against something he dimly registered was a tree.

Wait… How had he gotten from the middle of Amity Park to some place that had trees and a horse staring at him? Funnily enough…why did the horse look so familiar to him?

Squinting, he saw the golden plate on the horse’s chest area and the writing engraved on it. He couldn’t read it from this distance but was one hundred percent sure it read “Maximus”; he had just watched a movie with the exact same horse in it after all.

Then he remembered why he was here. Sam had made a wish to be in the _Tangled_ universe. And, as luck would have it, Desiree had been around to hear it.

“Sam,” he whispered, looking around for his girlfriend. He was going to _throttle_ her when he found her. Hadn’t they already had enough discussions about not making wishes since the last time? At least this time he had all his memories intact. Plus, his ghost powers were still there as a buzz underneath his skin. “Sam!”

The horse was staring at him. It came to Danny that Maximus looked completely wet. So did that mean the whole incident with the Snuggly Duckling thugs and the water dam had already passed?

 _If_ they were even in the _Tangled_ universe to begin with. He wasn’t sure. Knowing Desiree, anything could’ve happened. The horse could be Tucker for all he knew or maybe he was hallucinating and currently passed out at the bus stop.

Damn… He was really going to kill Sam.

That was when he saw his girlfriend lying a short distance away. Keeping an eye on the horse, who was _still_ staring at him, Danny scooted over and began shaking her.

“Saaaammm,” he whispered. When that didn’t wake her up, he said it sharply. “ _Sam_!”

The black-haired Goth jerked up, almost knocking her head into Danny’s. “What?” Her eyes darted around, meeting Danny’s after a few seconds. “What happened? Where’s Desiree?”

“No clue and not here,” Danny said. He jerked a thumb in Maximus’s direction. “Care to explain the horse?”

Sam’s eyes followed Danny’s thumb and landed on the horse. Her mouth dropped open. “Is that… _Maximus_?”

The horse nickered at the sound of his name. It sounded questioning to Danny.

“This cannot be happening,” he muttered, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut. “We did not just land in a movie.”

Sam ignored him, getting to her feet and slowly approaching Maximus. “Who’s a good boy, hmm? Who’s a good boy?” she cooed.

Danny blinked, unable to believe what was happening in front of him. His girlfriend, a hardcore Goth and hater of _anything_ sweet and sappy, was talking to a horse in the sweetest and sappiest voice he had _ever_ heard her use. Maybe he _was_ hallucinating after all…

“He’s soaking wet, Danny,” Sam said in a normal voice. “And he hasn’t found Eugene yet.”

“We’re calling him Eugene now?” Danny asked, approaching her side.

Well, _yeah_.” She looked meaningfully at Maximus and Danny understood that if she said Flynn that Maximus would instantly start harassing them for the thief’s whereabouts.

“How do we know we haven’t already changed something?” Danny slowly reached a hand out, stroking Maximus’s mane when it became clear the horse would let him.

“The sun’s just rising,” Sam pointed out, looking at the brightening sky. “It’ll be bright before long. Besides, the river’s over there.” She pointed to their right and Danny wondered how he could have missed the sound of water running. Maybe it was the fact that he had been distracted by the fact he was in _Tangled_. “I don’t think we’ve changed anything, Danny.”

Maximus snorted and bumped his head against them, snuffling their clothes. He was particularly interested in Sam’s short skirt and exposed midriff, eyeing her scandalously. Even Danny’s clothes drew some loud snuffling from the intelligent palace horse.

“You’re lucky nothing _worse_ happened when Desiree granted that wish,” Danny said, folding his arms.

“I thought it was pretty straightforward,” Sam objected.

“She could’ve turned you into Rapunzel and me into Flynn Rider. _Then_ where would we be?”

Upon Danny saying “Flynn Rider”, Maximus’s ears perked up and he shoved the teen after he had finished speaking.

“You want Flynn, Max?” Sam asked, smiling when Maximus turned to her eagerly. “He’s probably around here somewhere. Look for a girl with really long blonde hair and a guy sleeping on a rock.”

With a loud whinny, Maximus bolted off.

Left alone now, Danny turned to glare at Sam. “You don’t have anything to say about the situation we’re in now?”

Sam sighed, rubbing her arms. “I’m sorry, Danny. But…we’re inside _Tangled_! How can you not be excited?”

“We’re not home, it was a ghost that sent us here, we just met a horse that acts like a dog, and we have no clue how to get back!” Danny listed off on his fingers. “Did I miss anything?”

Sam beamed. “We’re in _Tangled_! Can’t you be at least a _little_ excited?”

“We’re in a movie that we shouldn’t be in,” Danny insisted, hating that he was such a killjoy. He’d normally be jumping for joy. “Desiree’s probably wreaking havoc back in Amity Park. How are we going to get _back_?” He groaned, rubbing his face.

Sam bit her lip, understanding a bit better now what Danny was worried about. “We’ll figure it out, Danny. But…could you at least _try_ to enjoy the fact that we’re inside a movie? And _Tangled_? It’s like the best movie possible to have landed in!”

Danny found himself grinning rather reluctantly. “Yeah. It _is_ exciting. And you know what? Maximus looked pretty normal to me. He didn’t look like an animated horse at all.”

Sam latched onto his arm. “We should make the best of this! We can _change_ how the movie ended!”

Danny drew away slightly to look into her face. “I thought you _liked_ how the movie ended?”

“I did! It’s just…I missed Rapunzel’s hair. She looked really cute with that short brown hair but her long hair is really beautiful!”

“So you just want to save her hair? But that’s how Gothel died.”

“She’d probably die if someone threw her out of the tower before she stabbed Eugene,” Sam suggested.

“And who’d do that?” Danny raised an eyebrow. “Flynn didn’t have a clue and Rapunzel was chained up.”

Sam peered at him for a long moment. “Us maybe?”

His eyes widened. “ _Us_?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah! You still have your ghost powers, right? We could _easily_ throw her out before she stabs Eugene and he has to cut off Rapunzel’s hair.”

“But…Sam…she’s a _human_ ,” Danny objected, looking ill.

“She’s an evil villain, that’s what she is,” Sam retorted.

“ _Sam_.” The look on Danny’s face bode trouble, something Sam noticed.

“But I know what you mean,” she continued hurriedly. “At least consider it?”

Danny sighed slowly. She was right: Gothel _was_ an evil villain. But that didn’t mean he had to kill her by throwing her out of a tower, original movie ending be damned. “I’ll hit her with a frying pan,” he conceded, grinning wryly. “I’ll let Flynn and Rapunzel do the actual deciding.”

Sam grinned broadly. “Eugene!” she said, flicking Danny’s nose. “That’s his name.”

Danny chuckled at the memory of when he had first heard the thief give his actual name. “All right. Eugene Fitzherbert it is.”

A loud yell pierced the air at that moment. The two instantly recognized it.

“Looks like Max found him!” Sam said, grinning.

“You have any ideas for now?” Danny asked, looking in the direction of the yell. He had to admit: he was really curious as to how Eugene and Rapunzel looked when not animated.

The bright look on Sam’s face told him trouble was brewing on the horizon.

* * *

He could walk through walls, turn invisible, and fly over two hundred miles per hour. He could fight ghosts without batting an eye and outtalk evil villains any day. His witty banter was legendary.

But he was _not_ a thief.

Even in a fictionalized world that he was actually walking in – _walking_ in! – he wouldn’t become a thief. Unlike some people – coughStabbingtonbrotherscough – he actually had morals.

So why couldn’t Sam understand that?

“I am not stealing clothes!” Danny hissed, clutching Sam’s hand to be sure they both remained invisible.

“You yourself said that the reason Max was looking so strangely at us was because of our clothes!” Sam argued. “Who else do you see wearing a short skirt?”

At that moment, an old man with knobby and hairy knees and wearing a short green, black, and red skirt hobbled by. Danny promptly pointed in his direction.

Sam rolled her eyes. “That’s an Irish kilt! Besides that!”

Danny sighed. “I get why we need new clothes. I just don’t get why we even need to _get_ them. Can’t we just stay away until we figure out how to get back?”

“Come on, Danny! We’re in _Tangled_! Plus, we’re in _Tangled_ on the princess’s birthday! That means we get to have fun like Rapunzel and Eugene did!” Sam was clutching Danny’s fingers tightly now, making him wince. “We can’t have any fun unless we blend in with the crowd. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to cause a scene because I’m not dressed appropriately.”

Danny also wanted to have fun. But he also didn’t want to steal. “I don’t want that either. What I _don’t_ want is to have to steal clothes.”

“Unless you have any of the money that’s going around here, I don’t see how we can pay,” Sam remarked dryly. “I might have a wallet and you might also have a wallet but I don’t think they take paper.”

“I have pennies,” Danny protested, seeing a glint of copper being exchanged between a baker and a young boy. “That looks authentic enough I should think.”

“You saw the captain of the guards,” Sam said, pointing towards a pair of guards marching down the street to make sure everything was orderly. The gleam off their helmets nearly blinded him. “And you see them. Do you really want to get arrested? Besides, Danny, I already told you: you’d make a much better thief.”

Danny pursed his lips, peering into the shop uncertainly. He _really_ wanted to enjoy himself. “You’re not going to make a habit out of this, are you?”

Sam patted his shoulder. “Once we’re back, I’ll be golden.”

He sighed, pulling them into the shop and into the racks of clothes. They were still invisible. “All right. Just go ahead and pick out a dress or something.”

“Sweet,” Sam muttered, fingering the articles of clothing. What scared Danny was that there wasn’t a single note of sarcasm in her tone. Was this still the same girl who ran from her mother every time she pulled out a frilly pink dress?

“I thought you hated dresses?” Danny asked quietly, moving his hand to Sam’s shoulder so she could use both hands.

“I hate the dresses my mom always forces on me,” Sam explained, pulling out a deep red dress before wrinkling her nose and putting it back. “But I like authentic stuff like this. It’s not frilly and it’s not too elaborate. It’s just right. Even though Rapunzel’s dress is pink, it’s such a muted pink I wouldn’t mind wearing it.”

Danny honestly had nothing to say to that. So when Sam made a sound of surprise and pleasure, he guided her to a changing room behind some vibrantly red curtains and left her alone. He had no desire to see her get changed. (Okay, so that was a lie. He _was_ a guy and she was his girlfriend… It was just that he would get whacked with a frying pan if he tried something.)

It only took a couple of minutes before Sam hissed, “Danny!”

He gently flicked the curtains open and made Sam invisible before taking them out of the shop and turning them visible in an alley. His eyebrows rose as he saw the dark purple long-sleeved gown Sam had taken. The hem dropped to her ankles and he saw that she still had her boots on; that would have to be remedied. Her bodice dropped in a V-shape but not so low as to expose anything unwanted (although if he were to be honest, nothing _would_ be unwanted…). She had let down her ponytail, letting her hair rest just above her shoulders; her bangs framed her eyes.

“What do you think?” Sam asked, smiling as she gave a little flourish and a bow.

Danny had to swallow before he could say anything. “You look beautiful.”

Her smile widened. “Thanks, Danny!” She gave him a kiss on the lips and pulled away before he could react. “Now we just have to get shoes for you and me and also some clothes for you!”

Knowing it would be useless to argue, Danny held his tongue and followed Sam as he remained invisible. She handed him her clothes before leaving the darkness of the alley.

“Incinerate these?” she requested, pushing them into Danny’s hands.

Danny raised an eyebrow, becoming visible so she could see. “Why?”

“It’s not like I have a bag or a pocket to keep them in. And it’s also not like I have more clothes back home.” Sam shrugged.

Danny glanced around and retreated to the shadows. He made the brightest ecto-beam he could and transformed the clothes in his hands into a blaze of green fire. Ashes crumbled to the ground, the only remnants of Sam’s modern-day clothes.

Sam kicked off her boots then, shoving them into Danny’s arms with a gleam in her eyes. Sighing, Danny did the same with them. Then he looked down at his girlfriend’s bare feet. “You’re going to walk around barefoot?”

“Why not? If a girl who spent eighteen years of her life in a tower was able to walk around barefoot on her first day out, why shouldn’t I?”

Danny cocked his head to the side. “Because it was a movie? I don’t know if you noticed but everything seems pretty real right now.”

Sam waved it off. “I’ll be getting shoes in a couple of minutes. But first we’re getting you some clothes.”

Danny bit back whatever he wanted to say and turned invisible, letting Sam do the guiding now that she was dressed appropriately. She didn’t enter the same shop but rather one tailored for men. He turned her invisible so they wouldn’t get any helpful salespersons badgering them for money they didn’t have.

Ten minutes later, Danny found himself staring in disbelief at himself in the small mirror they had provided in the changing area. He didn’t know how Sam had managed it but somehow she had managed to get the _exact_ same clothes Flynn – Eugene wore. There was even the vest!

“Why did you just dress me up as a thief?” Danny whispered to her; she was facing the red curtain and was inside the changing area with him.

Sam turned to appraise her boyfriend. She smiled widely. “You look terrific! The only thing that doesn’t match is your shoes.”

Danny scuffed them on the floor, not bothering to reply to that. “Why am I dressed up as Flynn Rider?”

Sam shrugged, grabbing Danny’s cast aside clothes and his hand. “It looks good, doesn’t it?”

Resigning himself to the fact that he wouldn’t get an answer (although one was niggling at the back of his mind), he turned them invisible and walked out of the shop. After disposing of his clothes and shoes via ecto-beam, he and Sam went to steal two pairs of shoes. As per to his clothes, he got Flynn’s – _Eugene’s_ boots and found he couldn’t complain: they were actually more comfortable than his own. Sam got a pair of cute black flats that were made out of some soft material that Danny really hoped wasn’t silk or satin.

“Now we have souvenirs!” Sam gushed, pulling her boyfriend through the streets. They matched perfectly with everyone else now. Only Danny felt a little underdressed in his clothes. Was it ironic that he was wearing a thief’s clothing when he had just stolen them?

“Why are you so happy?” Danny asked warily. They passed a vendor selling bread and stopped in front of a mural of the king, queen, and a baby Rapunzel. Out of curiosity, he looked to see if Rapunzel or Eugene were anywhere in sight. When he didn’t see the trademark blonde hair or someone wearing the same clothes he was, he returned to Sam’s side to admire the art.

Sam studied the mural for a few moments before pushing them to the side. Her voice was quiet as she spoke. “We haven’t had much time together. That date was the first one we’ve had for ages. And…well…I made that wish hoping Desiree would grant it.”

So that’s why she hadn’t looked very sorry. “How did you know we wouldn’t end up as Rapunzel or Flynn? I don’t think I’d appreciate being hunted down by a white horse.”

Sam shrugged, biting her lip. “I didn’t. But we still would have been able to spend more time together. Now that we’re in _Tangled_ and actually _walking_ around and being a part of what we were only able to imagine before, I’m really glad I did make that wish. We don’t have any ghosts to worry about and it’s _fun_. Plus, we don’t have any parents nagging at us.” She smiled amusedly at that.

“Aside from the fact, that I’m worried about how we’re going to get back…I have to agree with you.” Danny rubbed his forehead tiredly. “I’m sorry I haven’t been a good boyfriend, Sam.” He put a finger to her lips when she opened them to protest. “No, I mean it. I’ll make more time.” Shrugging, he said ruefully, “Not everything I do is that important. The reporters can take a step back and”—he adopted a British accent—“bugger off.”

Sam smiled at the accent. “Thanks, Danny. I appreciate it.”

Danny smiled back, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face. They were leaning in when a burst of music caught Sam’s attention. Knowing what it was, Danny let her drag him into the square. The long blonde-hair of the young woman dancing in the middle immediately caught their attention and they froze.

That was _Rapunzel_.

They couldn’t get a good glimpse of her face as she started pulling other people into the dance with her. Grinning at each other, they joined the dance as well. Danny was pulled away from Sam by a rather old lady and caught a glimpse of Maximus and a man he instantly knew was Eugene. Pascal the chameleon was on Maximus’s saddle and looked adorably green.

Remembering the movie, Danny knew Eugene would be dragged into the dance in a couple of minutes. Gosh...this _was_ cool! He’d actually get to meet the guy he’d seen on screen! And not the actor but the _actual_ character!

His thoughts slammed back to the dance when he abruptly switched partners. His reflexes kept him from making a fool of himself but he sorely wished he knew how to dance. Properly. All he was doing at the moment was making sure he didn’t trip over his feet and mimic the movements of the guys around him. So much easier said than done.

A minute later and he caught sight of Sam. She looked to be having the time of her life. As they came closer to one another, he reached out to her but found himself landing with someone else. His breath stopped when he saw who he had.

A long blonde-haired green-eyed beauty. Wow…he was dancing with _Rapunzel_? This was _seriously_ wicked!

His eyes landed on Sam and he saw her gazing at the man she was dancing with a dumbstruck look on her face. When they twirled around, he saw why: she had Eugene Fitzherbert, aka Flynn Rider.

Danny had to admit: while Eugene looked good on screen as an animated CGI character he looked infinitely better in real life (if this could be considered real life). Rapunzel was also a stunning beauty. If he wasn’t already taken and didn’t know that Rapunzel loved Eugene, he totally would’ve asked her out.

His thoughts jerked back to the present when Rapunzel gave him a beautiful smile. All he could do was smile rather weakly back, hardly able to believe his luck. Then he switched partners again.

It was several more minutes before the music ended with a grand flourish and Danny ended up with an attractive red-haired woman who was slightly too old for him. He looked for the expected couple and smiled when seeing they had again finished the dance in each other’s arms. Looking back at his partner, he gave a short bow and left, hoping he hadn’t committed a social faux pas. She was seriously too old for him, though!

“Wasn’t that _awesome_?” Sam exclaimed, grabbing his arm out of nowhere. “I _danced_ with _Eugene_!”

“I saw. I got Rapunzel,” Danny said, unable to stop grinning.

Sam also couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. “Epic, right?”

“Yeah. Now if only we had a camera,” Danny said wistfully, seeing the couple they were talking about vanish into a side street. “Tucker won’t believe us otherwise.”

“Can’t this be our secret?” Sam pleaded.

Danny looked at her, thinking the same. “I’d like that, too, Sam. The problem is that time is probably passing in our world and they’ve most likely noticed we’ve gone missing. That’s if Desiree isn’t doing anything. If she is, then they’ve _definitely_ noticed we’re not there anymore.”

Sam sighed, blowing a lock of hair upwards. “Yeah…”

“But it doesn’t mean we have to talk about _everything_ ,” Danny said slyly, winking at her. “That’s just between us.”

Sam beamed at him and suddenly hugged him, almost throwing him off his feet. “Great! Now let’s have some more fun! I really wanted to try the cupcakes and check the bookstore out.”

Speaking of cupcakes…Danny groaned mentally as he realized this would require his special skills again. If they ever caught him…

On the plus side, they probably wouldn’t butcher his nose.

* * *

It was approaching night now. They had managed to obtain two lanterns which Danny didn’t have to steal considering that they were free of charge to all people who wanted to release one. What they did manage to swipe was a purse from a rich man who had bullied around a very shabbily dressed man and his wife.

Personally, Danny didn’t regret swiping the man’s purse. From the look of his clothes, he was rich enough to have ten more of those purses plus a gigantic mansion filled with luxurious items. He figured that this was a side of _Tangled_ not seen in the movie. They had seen rough bandits like the Stabbington brothers but hadn’t seen outright cruelty from anyone besides Gothel whenever she insulted Rapunzel.

Considering that this universe did have its dark sides and wasn’t all bright and happy, did it mean they were in an _actual_ world and not just walking around in a movie? Did that also mean they could really change what had happened?

Oh, Clockwork… The ghost of time would probably not be pleased.

Danny sighed, breaking from his thoughts as Sam gave him a nudge and pointed towards a small craft that was rowing out onto the water. “Look! I bet we could find Maximus eating the apples on the dock.”

“You want to?” Danny asked, shifting his arm around Sam’s waist. He was in ghost form and floating above the lake. Since his ghost half had a glow, he was invisible.

“No need to. We’ll see him again later.” Sam held the lantern she had in one hand and a book in the other. “Thanks again for the book.”

“Thank the guy the purse belonged to,” Danny responded wryly. “Besides, we need a souvenir aside from our clothes. One of the books from _The Adventures of Flynnagin Rider_ is just as good.”

“It’s perfect,” Sam disagreed, hugging the book to her chest. “Now we can actually see what Eugene was so excited about.”

“I’m guessing the guy is going to make you want to throw the book across the room,” Danny remarked, grinning.

“I don’t throw books across the room,” Sam denied, rolling her eyes.

“Then what was that fiasco the other day with that book about the woman having an affair?”

“She made me want to strangle her! Besides, I threw it on the ground and stomped on it. There’s a difference.”

Danny snorted. “Looks the same from my perspective. You’re just abusing the trees.”

Sam glared at him. “Thanks for reminding me. Now I’m definitely not abusing this book.”

“You shouldn’t anyway. It’s the only copy we have.”

Any further arguing was cut off as Sam exhaled sharply and suddenly squeezed Danny’s neck so tightly he was choking for a moment. Then he was holding her bridal style and trying to prevent his lantern from getting squashed. His eyes drifted towards the castle and he noticed what had caught her attention: the first lantern had been released.

The sun had set, meaning it was a glowing orange against the backdrop of the dark night sky. As it slowly drifted upward, the hundreds of other lanterns in the kingdom’s streets also lit up and began to float upward. It was such a beautiful sight that Danny could hardly believe that he had seen it only a short while earlier on screen.

“It’s _beautiful_ ,” Sam breathed, her eyes wide with wonder.

Danny didn’t say anything as he was too busy taking in the hundreds of lanterns that were floating around them now. His breathing was quiet as he gently nudged Sam in the shoulder with his nose before letting go of his lantern. Following suit, Sam’s lantern floated after Danny’s for several minutes before being lost in the cloud of lanterns.

For several seconds, that was all Danny was aware of: Sam, the cloud of lanterns surrounding them, and the cool night breeze.

Then he heard something:

_And at last I see the light_

_And it’s like the fog has lifted…_

Okay. He had to admit that he seriously liked the song but really…

“ _Seriously_? They’re singing? I thought that was just the movie!” Danny whispered.

“Shh!” Sam hushed him, looking at the boat floating on the lake beneath them with a smile.

_And the world has somehow shifted_

_All at once everything looks different_

_Now that I see you._

“Don’t diss love, Danny,” Sam scolded him quietly, gently bopping him on the head.

“I’m not. I’m just wondering why they’re singing when it’s not scripted.”

“It’s still the movie’s universe,” Sam reasonably pointed out.

_If she’s here, it’s crystal clear_

_I’m where I’m meant to go._

Regardless of how beautiful the singing was or whether he was supposed to diss love or not, Danny began scanning the shoreline. He knew the Stabbington brothers were supposed to show up soon and completely wreck the moment. He’d groaned along with Sam when they realized Eugene wasn’t going to kiss Rapunzel after all because of that damn crown.

“The brothers are going to show up,” Danny said, maneuvering his way through the lanterns. “Do you want to do something to save Rapunzel’s hair?”

Sam jabbed her knee into Danny’s chest, causing him to let out an “ooph” and stop. “It’s not just Rapunzel’s hair! Besides, we can’t go _too_ far from the movie’s script. We need Rapunzel to see what a cow her so-called ‘mother’ is. The only way that’s possible is if the tower scene happens again. Anything else is too unpredictable.”

Danny sighed loudly. “And I was really hoping to knock their heads together Dash Baxter style.”

_All at once, everything is different_

_Now that I see you,_

_Now that I see you._

Their breaths caught as they watched the two lean in for a kiss that would never happen. Danny’s green eyes caught sight of a greenish lantern being held by the Stabbington brothers (he should really send a letter to the producers for that marvelous name) and he knew from Eugene’s body language that he had just seen them as well.

“Torture,” Danny muttered, squeezing his eyes shut before opening them again. “I really don’t want to see them knocking him out and tying him up to the wheel.”

“Then don’t. I’d like to get something from the boat anyway.”

Raising an eyebrow, Danny silently flitted behind the boat Eugene was rowing to the shore. When it finally reached the shore, he set Sam down on her feet and held her shoulder to be sure they still remained invisible.

“There’s just something I have to do,” Eugene assured Rapunzel, holding the satchel in his hands.

Rapunzel gave a weak smile. “Okay…”

Eugene’s smile was equally feeble, although Danny was pretty sure it was supposed to be reassuring. “I’ll be right back.”

With that, Eugene vanished into the mist. Rapunzel looked down at Pascal, who looked remarkably like an _actual_ chameleon now that Danny had a closer look at him.

“It’s all right, Pascal,” she murmured.

It was only Danny’s sharp ears that heard the conversation between Eugene and the Stabbington brothers. Sam didn’t seem to notice anything. When he heard the sounds of a scuffle breaking out, his fingers inadvertently tightened, causing Sam to shoot him a questioning glance. He simply shook his head, keeping his eyes fixed on an anxious Rapunzel.

Gah… His hero complex was really coming to bite him in the butt now. It was practically screaming at him to go and kick the Stabbington brothers’ butts and save Eugene but he knew he couldn’t do it. Like Sam said, it would simply deviate too far from the movie script and that was their only guiding point at the moment. Besides, it _would_ all turn out for the best in the end, regardless of their interference. All they were going to do was save Rapunzel’s hair.

He felt Sam stiffen as the Stabbington brothers emerged from the mist. Rapunzel’s words didn’t register in his mind as the only thing he could think was that CGI did wonders for their complexion. They were _much_ uglier in real life.

“He did,” one of the brothers said, grinning evilly.

“What? No,” Rapunzel protested. “He wouldn’t.”

“See for yourself.”

Although he’d already seen it, Danny couldn’t help but look at the sailing boat. Despite his better eyesight, he had to admit he was also fooled. If he hadn’t known what had actually happened, he really would have thought that Eugene had up and left with the crown.

Rapunzel cried in dismay after the boat. “Eugene!”

The brothers creepily approached Rapunzel. “A fair trade: a crown for the girl with the magic hair. Can you imagine how much they’d pay to stay young and healthy forever?”

Rapunzel’s eyes widened as she seemed to realize what that meant and she stepped away. “No, please…no!” She bolted in the direction they had come from when they opened a sack and tried to stuff her in it.

Danny didn’t have to see the fact that her braided hair was caught in a branch. What he did see was Gothel stealthily attack the chasing brothers from behind with a sturdy branch. He was sorely tempted to snatch it away and hit _her_ with it but restrained himself.

“Rapunzel!” she called, sounding concerned.

“Mother?” Rapunzel stepped back over the log, freeing her hair in the process.

“Oh, Rapunzel!” Gothel dropped the stick and held out her arms. “How are you? Are you hurt?”

“How did you…?” Rapunzel ran into her arms.

“I was so worried about you! So I followed you. And then I saw them attack you!” Gothel fussed over Rapunzel; it made Danny sick to his stomach. “Oh my… Let’s go before they come to.”

As Gothel retreated to the forest, the two invisible watchers watched as Rapunzel looked back to the lake, awareness striking her as she realized what she had lost. Tears formed in her eyes and she rushed into Gothel’s arms.

“You were right, Mother. You were right about everything,” she sobbed.

Danny didn’t miss the way Sam’s arms suddenly wrapped around his waist. He had to bite his lip to stop himself from doing anything rash.

“I know, darling. I know,” was all Gothel said to Rapunzel’s sobs. Then they disappeared into the trees.

As soon as they were gone, Sam rushed toward the boat, flickering into full visibility.

“Hey – Sam!” Danny turned visible as well, his glow now lighting the area around him for five feet. “What are you doing?” He glanced at the Stabbington brothers; they were still out cold.

Sam didn’t respond, rummaging through the boat. Then she straightened, triumphantly holding something up. “Ha!” It was the frying pan. “The infamous frying pan!” she said unnecessarily. “Since I didn’t see it at the end of the movie, I figured it was left in the boat.”

Danny approached her, looking at the frying pan. “Is it made out of iron or some other hard material?”

Sam pushed it into his arms. “See for yourself.”

He waved it around experimentally. “Jeez. How did Eugene’s head not bleed when he was whacked with this? Better yet, why didn’t he get a concussion? I’ve been knocked into enough buildings to know that’s what happens when you hit your head!”

“It’s a movie,” was Sam’s explanation. “Besides, it makes for a sweet weapon.” She snatched it back, nearly beaning Danny in the head.

He ducked away from the dangerous weapon and moved toward the Stabbington brothers. Picking them up by the scruff of their shirts in both hands, he threw them into the boat Sam had just clambered out of.

“What are you doing?” Sam asked, raising an eyebrow as Danny’s eyes lit with an insane gleam. The brothers were lying face down and on top of one another.

“If they get Eugene arrested, I’m going to get _them_ into the same soup. I don’t know how they were found the first time but I can definitely change it by dumping them in the city.” Danny grinned wickedly. “Hang on a moment. I’m going to fetch something.”

Sam only had to wait two minutes before her boyfriend flew back with a flyer in hand. He smacked it onto the top brother’s back. A closer look showed it to be the “Wanted” poster of the brothers.

She smirked. “Clever, Danny.”

Danny shot her a grin. “I’m going to go push them into the city.”

“And I’ll be coming with you,” she declared, latching onto his neck.

Danny gave her another smile and pushed the boat into the water, flying behind it as he zipped it along the surface of the water at a rapid speed. He made sure to dump it at a spot where there were guards in plain sight. The loud noise it made instantly alerted them and he hightailed it out of there.

Green met lilac and the two knew what they would have to do next.


	2. Chapter 2

How could he have been so stupid? So stupid as to think that they would just take the crown and leave? So stupid as to think that he could fight them when they were clearly so much bigger? So stupid as to leave her _alone_ in the boat? Where did he come off anyway?

Eugene Fitzherbert gritted his teeth, crouching down more over Maximus as the white palace horse sprinted towards the place where Rapunzel’s tower was hidden.

God… If it hadn’t been for the Snuggly Duckling thugs, he’d be hanging from a noose at the moment, unable to help her. But if it hadn’t been for his stupidity in the first place, it never would have happened.

The only comeuppance was that he overheard during his long night in that godforsaken cell that the Stabbington brothers had been captured after their boat had rammed into the dock a short distance away from his own boat. They had been unconscious with the wanted flyer pasted onto one of their backs. He knew that they wouldn’t turn themselves in such an atrocious manner so that left him wondering who _did_. Regardless, it was someone he tipped his imaginary hat off to.

Seeing the brothers locked in a cell had really made his day. Hearing that an old lady had apparently told them about Rapunzel’s hair made it worse again. So it all balanced out in the end really.

“Under that curtain, Max,” Eugene muttered to the horse, catching sight of the hidden entrance.

Maximus nickered – something Eugene found mystifying considering the breakneck speed the horse had been running at for the last so many minutes – and plunged headlong into the curtain without a thought for what might be behind it. The tower came into view the moment they ran out from the cave.

Eugene threw himself off of Maximus’s back the moment they were at the bottom of the building. “Rapunzel?” He paused shortly before calling out again. “Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

For a few agonizing moments there was absolutely no response and he started climbing up by hand. Then came the _glorious_ sight of Rapunzel’s beautiful golden tresses plunging down in his direction. He grabbed onto them and started hauling himself upward. It would later come to him that he had scaled a tower using nothing but _hair_. It would also later dawn on him that it was the funniest thing ever and Rapunzel would have to ask him why he was laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe.

As he pulled himself up over the sill of the window, he couldn’t help but say something really mushy. “Rapunzel, I thought I’d never see you again!”

He stopped short when he saw that Rapunzel was chained up with a gag over her mouth. She was trying to say something but whatever it was couldn’t be understood because of the gag.

Hang on… If she was tied up, then where was the captor?

Cursing silently, Eugene’s eyes flitted over the small room but he saw nothing aside from Rapunzel. Then he had the _brilliant_ idea – way to go, Flynn, five seconds too late – that the captor was _behind_ him.

He heard a gasp directly by his ear and whirled, taking a step back as he did. A frizzy black-haired woman in a dark red dress and a black cloak was standing by him with a devilishly sharp knife in her hand. The funny thing was that she was just standing there with the knife in prime stabbing position. Her hand was violently shaking in midair but she wasn’t _doing_ anything.

She seemed surprised herself, her eyes widening angrily. “What? How? Rrrgh!” She struck out with her other hand and tried to use her body’s momentum to stab Eugene. She didn’t budge an inch aside from almost falling over.

Eugene carefully stepped away from her, backing up to Rapunzel’s side. “Okay… Easy now…” He whispered out of the corner of his mouth, “What the heck’s going on?”

Rapunzel made a questioning noise and he bent down carefully, keeping an eye on the crazy lady as he untied the gag.

“Eugene!” was the first thing Rapunzel cried. “You’re all right! I thought…” Her eyes began tearing up. “She said you’d be hanged!”

Eugene grinned wryly, tucking a lock of her long hair behind her ear. “I’m not that easy to get rid of, Blondie.”

A loud snarl from the crazy lady made their eyes dart over to the window, where Gothel was still struggling against something that was holding her in place.

“You have a key?” Eugene asked, jiggling the chains binding Rapunzel’s arms behind her back.

“No. Moth – Gothel has one.”

Eugene raised an eyebrow at the change in name but didn’t comment. Instead, he plucked a chandelier from a table and took the candle off, using the pointy stick as his lock picking device. Within a minute, Rapunzel’s chains slid off with clattering and she flung herself on Eugene, knocking them both to the ground.

Eugene soon noticed with abject horror that the shoulder of his vest was becoming damp. Great… Just because he loved Rapunzel didn’t mean he knew how to deal with her crying on him.

“What’s wrong?” He thought he had a very good idea of what was wrong but needed to ask.

Sure enough, Rapunzel’s muffled reply affirmed his suspicions. “You left.”

Gothel also overheard. “And you should have stayed away!”

Eugene shot her a glare. “Okay, you—”

He was cut off by loud whispering from nowhere. “Jeez, are you going to throw her out of the window or not?”

The reply was heated and echoed slightly. “I thought I already told you! I’m not throwing a human out of a window, original ending or not!”

Eugene and Rapunzel warily sat up, neither of them what to think of this new occurrence. A horse wielding a sword was believable. Voices coming from thin air not so much.

But then…this _was_ the tower where a girl with magic blonde hair had been held for eighteen years.

“Who are you?” Gothel demanded, swiping the air around her with her free hand. The hand clutching the dagger was still immobile. “Show yourself!”

The reply was very snide now. “Now, see, this is where it gets tricky. I don’t listen to witches.”

“I thought _you_ were the one saying to keep absolutely quiet?” Listening carefully, Eugene thought that this one sounded like a female, a very young one at that.

“You blew that out of the water the moment you told me to fling her out of the window.” And this was one was a young male.

Eugene ventured to say something now, dangerous waters be damned. “If you don’t listen to witches, would you happen to listen to me?”

The response was rather flippant and alleviated his fears somewhat. “Depends.”

Rapunzel asked his question. “Are you ghosts?”

Eugene winced. Or maybe not. He would have had a _tad_ bit more tact. How many people asked ghosts whether or not they _were_ ghosts?

He didn’t expect ghostly laughter. “I guess you could say that.”

The female voice butted in. “For the last time, are you going to do something about her or not?”

“I’m not throwing her out of the window.”

“Fine.”

“Wha – _Sam_!”

Neither Eugene nor Rapunzel expected the loud bang of something being hit against Gothel’s head. The crazy lady slumped to the floor, her hand finally falling to the ground with a thump. To their shock, the dagger in Gothel’s hand suddenly floated into the air.

“Huh?” was all Eugene was able to say.

His unspoken question was answered as a girl with black hair and in a purple dress materialized in front of them, inspecting the dagger. “This looks really sharp.”

Just when they thought it couldn’t get any stranger, a boy with blindingly white hair, sharp green eyes, and in a black and white…suit – Eugene couldn’t tell _what_ it was – with a stylized emblem on the chest appeared by her side, looking resigned. “It’s a dagger. And it killed someone. Of course it’s going to be sharp.” There was an ethereal glow around him that lit up the entire room.

A squeak sounded at the floor and Rapunzel and Eugene looked to see Pascal boldly inspecting the strangers. The girl suddenly beamed and picked him up.

“Hi there! Oh gosh… You look so cute!”

“Bother…” the boy – ghost – groaned, rubbing his face. “We’re doomed.”

Pascal chirped appreciatively at the girl’s praise and flicked his tongue out, licking her face. She laughed, carefully depositing Pascal back on the floor where he scampered back to Rapunzel.

Eugene heard him chattering to her but didn’t listen. He was too preoccupied with the sight of the frying pan in the girl’s hand. “Did you hit Gothel with that?” he blurted.

“This?” The girl held up the frying pan. “Yep!”

“I wanted to do that,” the boy muttered, glaring at Gothel.

The girl turned to him. “Come on. You didn’t even want to throw her out of the window!”

The boy’s glare was directed at her now. “ _Why_ would I do that?” Eugene absentmindedly noted that it still echoed even though he was visible now. “Besides, I was the one that said I’d like to hit her with the frying pan!”

“And I was the one holding it.” The girl whacked the boy against the shoulder with it. He didn’t react. “Tough luck.”

Rapunzel and Eugene got to their feet, still not sure about the newest occupants in the tower. They _seemed_ friendly enough.

“What are your names?” Rapunzel asked.

The boy and girl seemed to have an intense silent conversation with their eyes before he turned to them and said, “My name is Inigo Montoya.”

Eugene’s eyebrows flew up at the name, hardly able to believe the poor boy’s luck. Compared to that name, Eugene Fitzherbert wasn’t so bad after all… He saw Rapunzel mouthing the boy’s name silently, a perplexed frown on her face.

The girl snorted derisively, rolling her eyes. “Nice one, _Inigo_. And I guess I’m Buttercup?”

“It was the only one I could think of!” Inigo said defensively.

“You’re just missing the line: ‘You killed my father. Prepare to die.’ “

“Wait. Hold up.” Eugene put up his hands in a “stop” motion. “His name isn’t _actually_ Inigo?”

Inigo shuffled around as Buttercup shook her head. “No. He’s Danny and I’m Sam.”

Okay. Danny was a _much_ nicer name than Inigo; it rolled off the tongue more nicely as well. But it was such an exotic name. And _Sam_? What kind of a name was that for a girl? He would’ve figured she was a Lillian or something equally as nice.

And, typical Rapunzel, she went for a complete non sequitur. “What did you mean when you said it had already killed someone?”

It seemed to take Danny and Sam a moment to register what she was talking about. Then both looked down at the dagger gleaming wickedly in Sam’s hand before looking up and smiling nervously.

“I saw another dagger like that before,” Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It…well…”

“Killed someone,” Eugene supplied blankly.

“Yeah, that.” Danny dropped his hand, still looking uncomfortable.

Sam was thoughtfully looking at the dagger and then at Gothel. Eugene realized she was considering stabbing Gothel with it and actually staining the dagger. Danny seemed to come to the same conclusion and took the dagger away, stowing it somewhere Eugene couldn’t see.

“Come on, Danny!” Sam complained, folding her arms petulantly.

“No, Sam,” Danny said firmly. “Souvenir.”

The word made her sigh and give it up. “Fine. But I call dibs.”

“I get the frying pan,” Danny retaliated, snatching that away as well. This time Eugene really couldn’t figure out where the boy stashed it. Did he have an invisible satchel or something?

Rapunzel blinked at the odd exchange. “Who exactly are you two?” she asked tentatively, holding Eugene’s arm as she did.

Danny and Sam seemed to have another silent conversation with their eyes. Eugene took the moment to more closely inspect them. He realized that Sam looked rather familiar.

“Do I know you?” Eugene asked her. “I get the feeling I’ve seen you around somewhere.”

Sam looked positively delighted at that, clutching Danny’s arm tightly. “He remembers me!” she squealed into Danny’s ear, causing him to wince.

He rubbed the smarting organ. “Voice, Sam.” He eyed Eugene. “You really remember her?”

“Not really,” Eugene admitted. “It’s more like a déjà vu feeling if you get my drift.”

“I do,” Danny agreed just as Sam said, “We danced this afternoon!”

Eugene stared at her for another moment before it registered and he vaguely remembered the girl he had danced with during Rapunzel’s impromptu dancing spree. “Oh! You’re that girl!”

Sam beamed even more broadly; Danny seemed to be getting uncomfortable and was trying to pry her fingers off of his arm.

Rapunzel brought them back to the matter at hand. “Do you mind answering my question?”

“Oh!” Danny’s lips thinned and he stopped trying to pry Sam’s fingers off.

Sam sighed, letting go voluntarily. “Come on, Danny. I doubt your secret will freak them out. This _is_ the girl with magic hair that glows and heals people when she sings.”

Eugene and Rapunzel started at the fact that they knew Rapunzel’s secret.

“How do you know that?” Eugene demanded, pushing Rapunzel back protectively.

Danny glanced over them skeptically. “ _He_ freaked out,” he said pointedly to Sam, pointing in Eugene’s direction.

“Whatever it is this time, I’m not going to freak out,” Eugene said, insulted. Did he know about the freak out he had over finding out about Rapunzel’s hair the first time?

Danny was still looking at him skeptically when a bluish-white light formed at his waist and split in two, going up and down. Eugene’s jaw dropped as the suit changed to clothes and the white hair changed to black and the green eyes to blue. In the end, a very normal teenage boy stood in front of them.

Pascal squeaked in alarm and fell off Rapunzel’s shoulder. She absentmindedly caught him before he landed on the floor.

“Ah…ah…” Eugene found that his voice wouldn’t cooperate. His mouth was flapping open and shut like a goldfish.

Danny turned to Sam. “I _told_ you he’d freak out!”

His voice came back. “I’m not freaking out!”

Danny eyed him amusedly. “No. I guess you’re not anymore.”

Eugene’s eyes passed over his attire and widened. “Are those _my_ clothes?”

“At least they won’t get my nose wrong,” Danny said flippantly.

Eugene stared at him. “Okay… _Who_ are you?”

The two teens stared at each other. Danny took the initiative to shrug. “When you asked if we were ghosts, you weren’t too far off. I’m _half_ a ghost.”

“And I’m completely human,” Sam added.

Eugene and Rapunzel looked at the two of them and then at each other. Well…Rapunzel’s hair _was_ magical.

“Okay,” Eugene said finally, rubbing the side of his neck. His hand dropped to his side and was taken by Rapunzel’s. “We get that. Why are you here?”

“That’s a bit of a long story,” Danny said. “We should probably go down before Maximus tries climbing up.”

The crazy woman groaned at that moment. To Eugene’s bemusement, Danny whipped out the frying pan from nowhere and promptly knocked her out. The frying pan then disappeared.

Looking extraordinarily pleased, Danny lifted Gothel up with an ease that belied his small and slender stature. “I so wanted to do that ever since I first saw you knock Eugene out.”

“You know my name?” Eugene asked, confused.

“You saw me knock him out?” Rapunzel’s eyes widened.

“Part of the story,” Sam assured them. She looked at the lifted tile Gothel had wanted to escape through. “Can we go through there, Danny? Please? I really wanted to see how it looks!”

Danny sighed. “All right, Sam.” He seemed to consider Gothel for a moment before brushing it off. “You first.” He looked at Eugene and Rapunzel. “We’ll meet you out there.”

With that, he followed Sam down the hole in the floor.

Eugene cleared his throat nervously now that they were relatively alone. “Well, that was—”

He was cut off as Rapunzel suddenly pressed her lips to his, silencing the “interesting” that he had been about to say. Honestly, though, he didn’t really care; he was too busy kissing her back.

* * *

By the time Eugene and Rapunzel swung down from the tower via Rapunzel’s hair, they found Gothel trussed up like a chicken with a hood over her head. Maximus was standing guard over her. The sun had risen well over the walls of the valley, lighting it up in vibrant colors reminiscent of the time Rapunzel had first blackmailed Eugene into taking her to see the lights.

In response to Eugene’s questioning look, Danny shrugged. “If it works it works. Besides, I finally get to tie somebody up like a cowboy.”

Eugene didn’t comment on the strange word. He had a feeling he would need his patience for whatever was going to be explained next. So without further ado, he sat down with Rapunzel as far away from Gothel as was possible – which was really only a couple of feet. Danny took the seat right next to her, frying pan in hand, and Sam was on his other side.

“So…” Danny brought his knees up. “I think we can probably say that we’re from the future.”

Crickets chirped in the background as Eugene and Rapunzel stared blankly at two teenagers. It didn’t take them long to figure out that they were being serious. Pascal jumped onto Danny’s knee and stuck his tongue directly onto the teen’s face with a splat, making Eugene wince in sympathy.

Danny fell over on his back, wiping his face off. Pascal chirped but didn’t move.

Sam sighed. “He could’ve been a bit more tactful but yeah that’s the gist of it.”

“How’d you get here then?” Eugene asked. “I didn’t know ghosts could travel through time.”

“I know one,” Danny said, getting up on his elbows. “But I’m not that one. In this case, it was because of a wish. Frankly speaking, I don’t think we’re in our timeline anyway.”

“To make it clearer,” Sam said, taking pity on a very befuddled Eugene and Rapunzel, “we were walking home from seeing…art on screen. It’s like pictures but they move and talk. Anyway, we were talking about what we had just seen. I made a wish to be in that universe.”

“And considering my luck, a wishing ghost overheard it and granted it,” Danny finished. “Hence why we’re here now.”

“A _wishing_ ghost?” Eugene spluttered, scarcely able to believe it.

“You’re saying you wished to be here with us?” Rapunzel asked. “What were you watching?”

“ _Tangled_ ,” Danny replied, nodding towards Rapunzel’s golden hair. “It’s….well…your story. It’s why we were in the tower at that moment.”

“You _knew_ that was going to happen?” Eugene demanded. “That she was going to try and stab me?”

“We know why the dam broke down, why Rapunzel charmed the thugs in the pub, and what she does every day in the tower,” Danny said. “It’s what we call a movie. You guys were the main characters.”

“We’re a movie?” Eugene couldn’t seem to say anything else.

“Not anymore, I should think,” Danny tried to reassure him. “ _We’re_ here at any rate. Besides, we broke the mold and now everything’s different.” He closed his eyes and fell back onto the grass. “Oh, _Clockwork_ …”

Sam patted his knee. “If he didn’t want us to do anything, he should just pop in and say so. Since he hasn’t, I think we’re good, Danny.” She moved her left hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

The sunlight glinted off something on her left ring finger.

Being the observant thief he was, Eugene couldn’t help but notice that it was a ring. “You’re engaged? Or are you already married?”

Danny sat up properly this time, eyes falling on the ring Eugene had seen. Sam looked up from it to meet Danny’s eyes.

“No, we’re not,” Danny said, shaking his head. “We’re too young.”

“Danny!” Sam shoved him.

“It’s more of a promise ring that shows she’s my girlfriend,” he further elaborated, rubbing the shoulder Sam had shoved. “We can’t really marry in our society at such a young age.”

Eugene looked at Maximus to see what the horse was thinking about all this. He was amused to see that the horse’s eyes were bugging out and that his jaw had dropped to the ground. A fly flew into it at that moment but Maximus didn’t notice.

“It’s so sweet,” Sam said suddenly, smiling at the couple sitting across from them. “I’m really glad I made that wish.”

“Do you have a wish to get back?” Danny muttered. Something in his tone told Eugene that it was purely rhetorical.

“Are you saying you want to go home?” Rapunzel asked.

“The ghosts are probably wrecking _everything_ ,” Danny groaned, collapsing back onto the grass.

“We don’t have a clue,” Sam answered, grinning rather embarrassedly. “So I guess we’re stuck here for the moment.”

Gothel moved again at that moment; Danny absentmindedly knocked the frying pan against her head, stopping any further movement. He then took the same hand, frying pan still clutched in it, and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s not too bad, though,” he said slowly. “It’s a fun vacation.”

“Vacation,” Eugene said blankly as Rapunzel beamed and hung onto his arm.

“Do you want to come with us to the palace?” she asked eagerly.

Eugene started at that and stared at her. “Why the castle, Blondie?”

Rapunzel looked rather hesitant, something which made Eugene unconsciously tighten his arm around her. “Well, um…I meant to tell you that I found something out.”

Before she could do so, however, Danny abruptly stood up and threw Gothel over his shoulder; a bluish-white ring formed at his waist and split, transforming him back into the ghost Eugene and Rapunzel had first met. “Okay. Two years ago I would have had no problem listening in on this. But the last several months have taught me a lot about privacy. Sam and I are going to head out of here, leaving you two alone. We promise not to eavesdrop.”

Rapunzel called after them. “Will we see you again?”

Danny turned his head, shooting them a smile. “We’ll be waiting out there!” He pointed in the direction of the exit Eugene had pelted through what seemed like only minutes before.

The two waited until Danny and Sam were far away enough to not overhear anything. While waiting, Eugene reassuringly clasped Rapunzel’s hand. Whatever she had to say, he would be there for her. She _was_ his new dream.

“I kept the cloth you got for me,” Rapunzel said shyly, all of a sudden manufacturing the purple cloth with the sun on it. “And…it helped me see something in my paintings.” She gently unfolded it. “There were suns everywhere from before I had even seen this one.”

Eugene had the feeling that he wouldn’t exactly like what this was leading up to. “What did it mean?”

“I _remembered_ ,” she breathed, glancing shyly into his hazel eyes. “I remembered that I…” The rest was lost in an indistinguishable mumble.

“Huh?” Eugene furrowed his brow. “Could you repeat that?”

“I’mthelostprincess,” Rapunzel said in a rush. She flinched, most likely expecting a sudden freak out.

Well, he wasn’t freaking out. In fact, he was sort of beyond freaking out. It was a nice little numb place he liked to call “I’m beyond caring at the moment but I’ll go pass out in a corner when it’s time.”

“Okay.” His voice was calm. “You’re the lost princess.” After a few more seconds’ consideration, he admitted to himself that it should have been obvious. Eighteen years old and a birthday on the same day as the lost princess? Locked up in a tower for all of her life with blonde hair that looked like the lost princess’s? Yeah, it should have been obvious. “It makes sense.”

“You mean…you’re not freaking out?” Rapunzel asked tentatively.

Eugene smiled gently. “Rapunzel, I’m sort of beyond freaking out.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“I wouldn’t freak out even if Pascal started speaking English or Max got up on two legs and did the tango,” he assured her.

Rapunzel looked down at Pascal. He chirped a negative and shrugged his little chameleon shoulders. She looked at Maximus. The horse shook his head. “Oh…”

“I guess you should’ve kept the crown after all,” Eugene continued, grinning ruefully. “It’s yours by birthright.”

At the mention of the crown, Rapunzel’s eyes filled with tears and she buried her face in Eugene’s neck, hugging him tightly. Her voice was muffled. “You left…”

Eugene winced as he gently hugged her back. “No, I didn’t.” He swore that the frog – chameleon was glaring at him. He made a flicking motion with his finger but paid attention to Rapunzel.

“I _saw_ it. You were sailing away on that boat!”

Eugene sighed, cursing the Stabbington brothers to the ninth circle of hell. “Those blasted brothers knocked me out and tied me to the wheel with the crown in hand. I wasn’t planning on leaving you, Rapunzel.”

Rapunzel drew away, gazing at him steadily. “You mean it? What about your island?”

“Hang the island.” Eugene wiped away a stray tear with his thumb. “ _You’re_ my new dream.”

Rapunzel’s watery eyes brightened and she threw herself onto Eugene, knocking both of them into the grass. “And you’re mine.”

He hadn’t thought his feelings would be returned. At most, he had hoped for “You’re my friend, Eugene. Oh, look, a bunny!” But now he was hearing that _he_ was also her new dream?

As they found themselves again kissing, Eugene figured that Inigo and Buttercup could wait for them a little longer.

* * *

“A promise is a promise, Sam. I’m not breaking it to eavesdrop on them.”

“I know, I know. But—”

“It’s not a movie anymore that we can just watch. We’re actually interacting with them. And you know what that means? We respect their privacy.”

Sam sighed, properly chastised. “Sorry.”

Danny gave her a small smile. “Believe me – I’d like to listen in as well. I just don’t feel comfortable with it.”

The two were outside the hidden valley and under a tree. Danny unceremoniously dumped Gothel at the bottom of the trunk, transforming back afterward.

“What are we going to do about her?” Sam asked, staring at the bundled up crazy woman.

Danny shrugged. “Like I said earlier, we’ll let Eugene and Rapunzel deal with it. She’ll die pretty soon anyway, though, without using Rapunzel’s hair.”

“Should we just stash her somewhere and pretend we lost her?” Sam suggested.

Danny stared at her incredulously. “ _How_ does one lose a tied up crazy lady?”

“It was more of a joke anyway,” Sam muttered rather sheepishly.

“What would be a joke is if I accidentally dropped her off the cliff,” Danny corrected, looking up at said cliff. “As it is…” He walked over to yank off the hood, revealing that Gothel was still unconscious. “…we’ll have to wait for those two to finish up before making any long-term arrangements.”

Sam cocked her head to the side, inspecting Gothel as Danny walked back to her side. “Is it just me or is her hair grayer than before?”

Danny also inspected Gothel more closely now. “It is. I think she’s got more wrinkles, too.”

With this in mind, the two grinned evilly at each other. Gothel was going to _hate_ this.

The old woman stirred at that moment, groaning as she blearily opened her eyes. Danny could see that her head was killing her but he didn’t particularly care: she _had_ killed Eugene in the movie.

Danny flicked the frying pan back into his hand from the ghostly space he had put it into and nonchalantly twirled it around his index finger. He was just waiting for Gothel to realize the situation she was in.

And she did. Just not the way he had expected.

“Rapunzel?” she gasped, gaping in disbelief at the two teens standing before her. Her eyes widened in horror and she began to wail. “No, Rapunzel! Why did you let him cut your hair? _Why_?”

Sam and Danny glanced at each other in confusion. What was going on?

“I think I whacked her too many times with the pan,” Danny decided, rubbing his neck with his free hand.

“Does she think _I’m_ Rapunzel?” Sam wondered, raising both her eyebrows in surprise

“Her hair turns brown when it’s cut,” Danny pointed out. “But yours is black and your eyes are lilac.”

“You thief!” Gothel suddenly screamed, trying to lunge at Danny. She failed as she was still tied up, instead landing flat on her face; her wails were correspondingly muffled. Danny thought he heard several very crude swear words.

He rolled his eyes upward. “Great. Now she thinks I’m Flynn Rider. I don’t even have a goatee!”

“You’d look good with one,” Sam said, shrugging. When he stared at her in disbelief, she insisted, “No, really! I mean, obviously not too big but the one Eugene has would look good on you.”

Danny snorted. “I have enough on my plate that I’m not going to start worrying about a goatee, Sam. I’m only sixteen.” He studied Gothel, who was now rolling around and screaming obscenities at the two of them. “It’s not even dark enough to make the mistake that we’re Flynn and Rapunzel.”

“We’re in the shade,” Sam offered. “You did hit her three times with the pan.”

Gothel suddenly landed directly on Sam’s feet, causing her to flinch backward. “Rapunzel!” she gasped. “Please, sing for Mother? _Flower gleam and glow…_ Sing!”

Danny hauled her up with one hand and knocked her against the tree, shoving the frying pan into her face. “Look, Gothel, neither of us is Flynn or Rapunzel. Besides, we wouldn’t sing to you even if our lives depended on it.”

Sam started singing under her breath. “ _Mother knows best, Mother knows best. Take it from your mumsy, on your own you won’t survive!_ ”

“Sam!” Danny groaned, rubbing his face. He let Gothel slump to the grass. “Not helping.”

“What’s not helping?” a new voice asked.

Danny and Sam turned to see Eugene, Rapunzel, and Maximus looking at them. Grinning nervously, Danny snatched up the hood he had dropped earlier and snapped it around Gothel’s head. Whistling a rather shrill tune, he knocked the woman out and tucked the frying pan away.

Eugene’s eyes widened. “How do you _do_ that?”

Danny cocked his head to the side, holding a limp Gothel in one hand. “Do what?”

“Just put the frying pan away like that! You don’t have a big pocket on you, do you?”

“Oh.” Danny grinned and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s a ghost thing that you wouldn’t understand. I don’t understand it myself and I’m the one doing it.”

Eugene blinked disconcertedly and shook his head, muttering something under his breath about how he was already beyond freaking out and would like things to go back to normal. Danny pretended he hadn’t said anything and dumped Gothel on the ground.

“What do you want to do with her?” Danny asked Rapunzel, nudging her with his boot.

Rapunzel seemed sickened as she looked at the woman she had called Mother for the last eighteen years of her life. “I…don’t know.” She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. “She’s…”

“Evil?” Danny and Eugene supplied simultaneously.

Sam threw in her two cents. “A crazy witch?”

“Yes!” Rapunzel rubbed her arms forlornly. “But…she’s…it’s…aargh!” She shook her head frantically and looked pleadingly at Eugene. “I don’t know!”

Danny understood where she was coming from. It was the same problem he had with quite a few of the ghosts. They had been enemies for so long it was hard to accept that some of them were making overtures of friendship. Then he also had to deal with making some kind of arrangement between the ghosts and the humans that would keep the Guys in White off their backs. “She was still the woman who raised you.”

Pascal jumped from Maximus’s head onto Rapunzel’s shoulder, making some consoling chirping sounds. He turned a muted blue to match his friend’s mood.

Eugene wrapped an arm around Rapunzel, sighing as he looked at the unconscious Gothel at Danny’s feet. “We don’t have to decide now, do we?”

Danny and Sam looked at each other and then down at Gothel.

He spoke first. “Well…probably not. But…err…” Shuffling around uncomfortably, he didn’t know what to say next.

Sam broke the news for him. “She’ll probably die by tomorrow anyway.”

Eugene raised an eyebrow while Rapunzel stiffened, her mouth pressing together in a thin line.

“ _Die_?” she whispered.

“She was using your hair, wasn’t she?” Danny asked gently. “Did you ever notice anything?”

“She’d always say that she was feeling run-down or something else like that,” Rapunzel said quietly. “She looked beautiful”—Eugene snorted and Sam coughed something that sounded suspiciously like “Old hag”—“but I always obliged. I did notice that her hair would get slightly grayer before I sang.”

Danny knelt down, slowly slipping the hood off of Gothel. “Like this, you mean?”

He’d expected Rapunzel and Eugene to gasp. He didn’t expect Sam to exclaim and looked down to see what had startled her. His nose wrinkled and he inadvertently rolled back on his heels when he saw what had transpired in the short time since he had last knocked out Gothel: her hair was almost snow white and her face was very, _very_ wrinkly and sunken in. In short, not a pretty sight.

But then, that was what happened when you prolonged your life for a few centuries beyond its normal means…

“Talk about being old,” Eugene muttered, face screwed up in disgust. He was promptly rewarded with a tongue in the ear courtesy of Pascal. “Eeyagh!” He slapped Pascal off, only for Sam to catch the grinning chameleon. “What did you do that for?”

“I think he was agreeing with you,” Danny said. Pascal gave a nod to confirm what the half-ghost said.

“Then why’d you stick your tongue in my ear?” Eugene demanded.

Pascal shrugged and chirped.

“I think he’s saying he just did it for sport,” Sam said, grinning. “But I’m not sure since I don’t speak chameleon.”

Danny studied Gothel for a short moment. “You know, I think I liked her in CGI more.”

“Real life is harsh, Danny,” Sam said, letting Pascal hop back onto Maximus. “And ugly.”

“You guys watched us…in a movie, right?” Eugene asked.

“Yeah,” they replied.

“So you know what happens to her?”

“She…um…turns to dust.” Danny shrugged weakly, not wanting to go into the details _why_ she had turned into dust. “I think it’s ‘cause she’s so…old.”

“Apparently the flower that the queen ingested grew a couple of centuries ago,” Sam explained. “Gothel saw it when it first landed and used it to keep herself young. Hence why we’re all standing here right now and debating what we’re supposed to do with this old crone.”

“Sam.” Danny’s voice was curt.

“What? It’s true!”

“I second that,” Eugene agreed. He looked down at Rapunzel, who was still nestled in his side. “What do you think, Rapunzel?”

Rapunzel’s answer was subdued; her eyes were fixated on Gothel’s prone figure. “If she just turns to dust without my help…we should probably just leave her, right? She’d be punished anyway.”

Danny considered the two for a moment. This was so different from the movie ending of _Tangled_ that he was screwed if something went wrong now. There was no movie script to fall back on if he did this wrong.

“I could take her back to the tower,” he offered carefully. “From the looks of things…well…it doesn’t really look like she has that much time left.”

Sam muttered something sounding like she’d just throw the crazy lady off the tower. Danny threw the hood in her direction, not wanting her to make Rapunzel feel bad. He had a feeling Eugene would heartily agree.

“Would you?” Rapunzel asked, meeting Danny’s eyes.

Danny smiled, picking Gothel up and transforming back into his ghost form. “Sure. I’ll be right back. You guys can already head on toward the castle.” He floated upward two feet, causing dropped jaws from everyone aside from Sam. “Unless you guys aren’t going there after all?”

Eugene was the first to find his voice. “We’re going.” When Rapunzel looked up at him in surprise, he tightened his arm around her. “You want to meet your parents, don’t you?”

“But…won’t you get caught?”

A short laugh escaped Danny, causing them to look up at him. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we can get around that.” He smirked, his eyes flashing green.

Eugene and Rapunzel simply stared at him. This would take some getting used to.

* * *

“We already told you: we don’t know how you managed to get on the balcony without the guards arresting you.”

“So why would this work any better?”

“Sam can easily get Rapunzel into the castle. She’s not a wanted thief. All we have to do is follow them.”

“And you can do this?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “I’m not a half-ghost for nothing. I can turn invisible, intangible, and fly. You’ll be fine.”

Eugene “hmmed” skeptically but didn’t say anything else in favor of watching Sam braid Rapunzel’s long hair again. They were only a short way from the bridge to the kingdom.

“You guys will be fine,” Danny said quietly, floating by Eugene’s ear.

Eugene glanced back at him, calmly registering the fact that he had a floating sixteen-year-old right by his side. It could be said that he was still beyond the freaking out stage. “How do you know? She’s a princess and I’m—”

“Not Flynn Rider anymore,” Danny interrupted. He suddenly procured a wanted poster of Flynn Rider. “Besides, I’m pretty sure we can make an argument based on the fact that this isn’t you because the nose isn’t right.”

Eugene closed his eyes upon seeing the horrific rendition of his nose in this poster. God…couldn’t they figure out that he _wasn’t_ an old lady and thus didn’t have a nose like that? “Just burn it.”

Danny shrugged, tucking the poster away again in a fashion that Eugene was really beginning to envy. “I think I’ll keep it. I really liked the nose the thug showed you in the Snuggly Duckling. It was so not you.”

Eugene groaned, rubbing his face as he remembered that horrific poster. It wasn’t as bad as the pig nose one (Danny had eagerly described that one to him much to his horror) but it was still pretty horrible. “Don’t remind me.”

“What? It wasn’t all bad. You guys got to bond!” Danny spread out his arms, gesturing towards Rapunzel and Sam, who were whispering together. He looked over at them and grimaced. “Crud. Sam whispering with a girl is not a good sign.”

“Girls whispering in general are not a good sign,” Eugene corrected. He received a nickering agreement from Maximus who was standing by his side. He glanced askance at the horse. “You have trouble with the ladies, too?”

Maximus apparently didn’t appreciate the insinuation as he shoved Eugene, knocking him into Danny. The ghost teen caught him before he could fall over and placed him on the other side, settling himself in-between the two feuding beings.

Glaring at the horse for a few moments, Eugene then sighed, running both hands through his brown hair. “I don’t know if it’s going to work,” he quietly admitted to Danny.

Danny smiled softly at him. “It will, don’t worry. They’ll love you.”

Eugene eyed him skeptically but with a hint of hope. “Really?”

“Yep. Especially if you pull off the smolder.” The smirk on Danny’s was the only thing telling Eugene he wasn’t serious.

Still, he decided to treat it as such. “Really? The smolder?”

“Yes. The smolder. Didn’t it go something like this?” Danny screwed his face up into something Eugene couldn’t quite decipher. It looked like a cross between a squint and a grimace.

“Erm…no.” Eugene shook his head firmly. “Absolutely not. _This_ is it.” Then he pulled it off flawlessly. But really, it was wasted on a being of the same gender.

He was distracted by a gasp from Sam and looked over, dropping the smolder as he did. She was gaping at him.

“Oh. My. _God_! It looks so much better in real life!” She fell over laughing, causing Rapunzel to look down at her in confusion.

“Is something wrong?” Eugene asked peevishly.

Danny looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. “It’s just that when we first saw you put it on, we were wondering who would fall for that. Now we see the charm.”

Eugene furrowed his brow at the white-haired teen. “Is that supposed to be an insult?”

“Maybe,” Danny replied ambiguously. “I’m a guy, though. It’s like asking a beer can if it likes you.”

“A beer can?”

“Nuance,” Danny said dismissively. “It’s short for you won’t ever know because it’s impossible. I’m not a girl or gay.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Eugene grumbled.

“It’s not supposed to.” Danny looked over toward Sam. “If you’re done laughing, are you done with Rapunzel’s hair? We should get going.”

Sam stood up, making herself presentable. “We’re good to go.” She smiled at Eugene. “It looks nicer when you actually smile for real.”

Rapunzel latched onto Eugene’s hand, her smiling face making his own break into a smile. “ _That’s_ the smile I like to see,” she said.

Eugene found that he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He was leaning down for a kiss when a throat cleared and he looked up to see Danny and Sam standing there, both seeming embarrassed.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Danny muttered, pulling the material of the suit around his neck. “It’s just…” He made a vague motion with his hand.

Sam rolled her eyes and slapped that same hand down. “Ignore him. He’s just aggravated that he has to cart us to the castle.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “Really? The only person I’m carrying is Eugene. You and Rapunzel are riding in on Maximus.” He took a short bow. “I bid you adieu, fair princess.” Smirking, he disappeared from view.

Eugene found that he couldn’t say anything else as he suddenly found that a hand latched onto his shoulder, making him invisible as well.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel sounded shocked at the fact that he had simply vanished. Hey, he was shocked, too. Sam simply grumbled and pulled Rapunzel over to Maximus.

He was about to exclaim when a gloved hand clapped over his mouth.

Danny’s voice whispered into his ear, “Shh. Let’s just have some fun.”

“This is disorienting,” Eugene whispered back as Danny lifted him into the air.

“You get used to it.”

“You get used to not seeing your own body?”

“Ah, well…one of the perks of being a ghost is that you _do_ see your body, even when it’s invisible. Funny thing is that you can see other invisible ghosts when you’re invisible yourself… I’ve never actually figured out why. _Anyway_ …Sam took a while but she got the hang of it.”

Eugene made a noncommittal noise, checking how high off the ground they were. He couldn’t feel the grass but he also didn’t know where his feet were in proportion to the ground. It was further disconcerting when Danny began flying after the girls, who were sitting on Maximus.

As they moved closer to the castle, Eugene felt a pit of despair settle into his stomach. Despite Danny’s reassurances, he was not at all confident that Rapunzel’s parents would accept him. He _was_ still wanted and considered a thief, even if he had unofficially dropped the alias of Flynn Rider.

His mouth turned dry as he imagined what could happen. He could be immediately arrested and sentenced to hang, regardless of Rapunzel’s pleas. He could be spared but exiled. He could be imprisoned for life.

The problem was that he just couldn’t see a happy ending for himself or Rapunzel when it came to being together. He swallowed, feeling his eyes burn; he blinked rapidly. Damn it. He was _not_ going to cry.

Eugene felt Danny give him a reassuring squeeze from the grip he had under the ex-thief’s shoulders. “It’ll be all right. You trust me, right?”

“I only met you a couple of hours ago when my girlfriend’s would-be mother tried to murder me but why not? Sure, I trust you.”

Eugene could clearly hear the resigned tone in Danny’s voice. “I probably had that coming. But you’ve just known Rapunzel for – what? – two days? And you already _like_ her.” The emphasis on “like” told Eugene volumes about what Danny thought about it (at least it was positive). “So tell me, what do you think she’d do if her parents did something unfavorable against you?”

“…Whip her hair against them?”

Danny snorted with laughter at Eugene’s unfortunate wording. “ ‘Whip her hair’. That’s _one_ way of putting it. Ah, sorry. Random thought. Anyway, don’t worry. It’ll be fine. If the extremely unlikely chance occurs that they hate you and throw you to the gallows, I can get you out of there easily.”

Eugene found he really couldn’t say anything to that. Besides, they had already reached the castle gates. Danny floated above the two girls, who had been stopped by the guards.

“Maximus?” one of them asked bemusedly. “What are you doing?”

Maximus whinnied and pranced to the side, letting Rapunzel move into easy view for the guards.

The princess kept her head high and Sam turned around from her position, shooting her a reassuring smile. Rapunzel seemed to gather courage from this, although Eugene could detect a noticeable waver in her tone. “I’m the lost princess.”

The guards stayed quiet for an interminable moment, studying the girl carefully. Their eyes promptly widened.

“By Jove!” the older one exclaimed. He whirled, nearly stabbing the other’s eye out with his spear. “Let the king and queen know immediately!”

Although taken aback, he nodded curtly. “Yes, sir!” Then, trying to turn around, he crashed into the shut gates. Fumbling, he unlocked them and ran down the path.

Eugene had to repress a snicker. If this was what Corona’s finest guards had to offer (granted, they weren’t the finest but he digressed), then it was no wonder that they had never caught him. The chase after he’d stolen the crown was the most intense one he’d been in for years. And, frankly, it was his own fault for even saying something to the guard in the first place. He was surprised the Stabbington brothers had never called him on it.

The remaining guard saluted to the females on Maximus. “Princess!” Rapunzel flushed but didn’t say anything. The guard took this as a cue to continue, “It is such an honor to have you back with us at last!”

‘ _You mean: it’s such an honor that she reported to **you** ,_’ Eugene corrected silently.

Rapunzel managed to give a weak smile now. “Thank you.”

The guard continued blathering on as he let Maximus through the gates. By the time they reached the actual castle, Eugene could see that Sam was willing to commit murder to get the man to shut up. Rapunzel was simply nodding along politely. When they hopped off of Maximus, Sam snatched Rapunzel’s arm and marched away from the still talking guard. It took Maximus nudging him forcefully with his nose to get him to shut up.

As Danny continued flying after the girls, Eugene glanced back at Maximus, who was now being led away by the garrulous guard. He had been promised a bushel of apples – not stolen – for his extraordinary good work. The fact that it had been Maximus helping him escape had apparently bypassed their thought processes.

They passed through elaborately decorated halls, maids cleaning obscure rooms, and a large library. The more they winded through the castle, the sicker Eugene was feeling. There was no way he’d fit into Rapunzel’s life. He was just a lowly commoner from the orphanage. He had no hope competing with this grandeur. What could he possibly hope to offer her that she wouldn’t have once accepted as the (lost) princess?

By the time they arrived on a grand balcony overlooking the main part of the town, Eugene had properly worked himself up into a nervous frenzy. Not even Danny alighting on the balcony and giving him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder relieved his extreme anxiety.

“You’ll be fine,” the white-haired teen asserted. “Just don’t act too obnoxious. Be Eugene.”

“Am I not?” Eugene muttered, rubbing his face agitatedly. He was glad that Danny still had them invisible.

“What I meant was: don’t turn into Flynn Rider.” Danny gave him one last squeeze on the shoulder before turning them visible. He floated over to Sam and put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll be right here, okay? Just invisible. We’ll meet up somewhere later.”

Before either Eugene or Rapunzel could say anything, the two had vanished from sight. The sudden disappearance disconcerted Eugene and he almost didn’t notice when Rapunzel took his hands.

“Are you nervous?” she asked, looking down at their interlaced fingers.

“Me? Why would I be nervous?” Eugene gave a short chuckle, hoping that it was enough. “I’m just fine. Not nervous at all.”

From his spot on the balcony railing, Pascal made a skeptical noise, sticking his tongue out.

Rapunzel bit her lip. “I’m awfully nervous. What if…what if they don’t recognize me? Sam said they would; that everything would be all right. But…I can’t help but think—”

Eugene cut her off with a finger on her lips, his nervousness abating slightly. “Hey. You’ll be fine, Rapunzel. They’ll love you. They’d have to be demented not to.” He hugged her to himself, mentally sighing as the contact further settled the butterflies in his stomach. “Besides, you haven’t changed much other than becoming more beautiful.”

Rapunzel blushed lightly but hugged him back. “Thanks, Eugene.” She drew away to continue seriously, “I won’t let them do anything to you. I promise.”

Eugene smiled. “And when you promise something, you never—”

“—ever break that promise,” Rapunzel finished, smiling as well. “Ever.”

More relieved now than he had been the entire time since he had been with Danny, Eugene reached up to brush Rapunzel’s cheek when he heard footsteps. Automatically, his hand dropped to the wayside as he looked over to see the king and queen of Corona hesitantly approach them. Feeling Rapunzel move, he let go of her hand so she could greet her long-lost mother and father.

They were silent as they stared at one another. Eugene couldn’t help but marvel at the resemblance in the faces of Rapunzel and her mother. They had the same nose and facial structure. The striking difference between all three was Rapunzel’s golden hair, but that was also the key characteristic defining the lost princess.

He stood silently as the queen slowly touched Rapunzel’s cheek, recognition filling her face before the two collapsed into a silent hug. His heart was hammering in his chest as the king approached Rapunzel. Neither of them had yet noticed he was there. Or maybe they had and just hadn’t put two and two together that he was Flynn Rider, notorious thief and crown stealer.

He broke from his thoughts when he felt pressure on his right shoulder. Out of habit, he glanced back but saw nothing. A shiver ran down his spine as even his extra sharp thief senses couldn’t tell that Danny and Sam were standing behind him. If it hadn’t been for that touch, he wouldn’t even have known.

Fixing his attention again on Rapunzel and her parents, he found that they had all fallen into a giant group hug. Then the queen looked up at him, a small smile gracing her lips as she held out her hand.

‘ _A handshake?_ ’ Eugene considered, smiling weakly as he extended his own hand. He didn’t expect to be yanked into the group hug.

He did expect the soft ghostly laughter that echoed around him. Seriously, Danny needed to get a hobby.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny had to mentally admit that watching the reunion scene in person was way cuter. It was also nice that they hadn’t changed _too_ much with their interfering. So far, they were still following the movie script. But they would be venturing into uncharted waters here as the movie had been particularly vague at the end.

“We’re still hanging around, yeah?” Sam asked in a whisper.

“That’s what I told Eugene. Unless something really drastic happens, we’re staying with them.”

“Good,” Sam sighed. “I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle Eugene.”

He had been so nervous. Danny hadn’t thought that one could get so stiff but Eugene had somehow managed it. Even his reassurances hadn’t done much to quell the thief’s fears.

As the group huddle stood up, Rapunzel clasped her parents’ hands in her own. “It’s…unbelievable,” she said, a tentative smile breaking her face. “I’m sorry.”

The queen smiled at her. “It’s not your fault.” Her voice was soft and lyrical and not unlike what Danny had expected.

Rapunzel looked back at Eugene, who seemed rather nervous again. “This is Eugene…Eugene Fitzherbert. He saved me.”

Eugene shrugged uncomfortably, offering a very weak smile in response to the king’s scrutinizing stare. “Your Majesty,” he said courteously, tilting his head forward in a respectful gesture.

“Eugene Fitzherbert, you say?” the king asked, still eyeing the thief. His voice was strong, firm, and steady.

“Yes,” Rapunzel said before Eugene could.

The queen frowned slightly. “I thought it was a girl who brought you here? Where is she?”

Danny held still as Rapunzel’s eyes blankly searched the balcony without finding anything. Would she tell them? He hadn’t exactly told her to keep their presence quiet. In fact, he hadn’t told either of them.

“Great,” he muttered, slapping himself in the forehead. “Great going, Fenton.”

“What?” Sam whispered.

“I did come here with a friend,” Rapunzel said, confirming Danny’s thoughts. “She’s still here, as is another one. They helped both of us.”

“Where are they?” Both the king and queen were looking now. Pascal had camouflaged himself to look like the balcony and thus evaded their searching eyes.

“Don’t freak out,” Rapunzel pleaded.

“Over what?” The queen sounded perplexed.

“Well…” Rapunzel looked back, her eyes passing over the invisible duo.

Danny resignedly decided to save her the stress and slowly faded into view after transforming back into his human self. He wasn’t going to reveal everything if he could help it.

The king and queen gasped at the two teens that had literally just appeared from nothing.

“Oh my!” the queen exclaimed.

Danny bowed his head. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Majesties.”

“Likewise,” Sam said, recovering quickly from the surprise of being revealed. She released Danny’s hand and did a small courtesy.

“Who are you?” the king asked.

Danny had no time to give an answer as Eugene jumped in. “This is William Thames and his wife Lillian.”

Sam discreetly jabbed him in the side, most likely as a reminder for his earlier foul as introducing himself ala _The Princess Bride_. He had to admit that Eugene’s names were pretty solid. But how did he know that they hadn’t wanted to use their real names?

Maybe it was the fact that he remembered Danny hadn’t used their real names to begin with. As a thief, Eugene would know when to be discreet.

But really…William _Thames_? Didn’t he know that was a river in England?

Rapunzel shot Eugene a rather surprised look but didn’t comment, apparently trusting him. Danny plastered a rather artificial smile on his face and nodded as if what Eugene had said was completely correct and not a complete lie.

The king inspected Danny and Sam, or William and Lillian. “Why did you sneak in here?”

Danny barely stopped himself from shrugging. “Eugene shares an unfortunate resemblance with someone the palace guards dislike.” Resemblance was one way to put it… “We figured it would be easier if S-Lily”—Sam couldn’t complain about that name—“brought Rapunzel in.”

“I see,” was all the king said, scrutinizing Eugene now.

Danny could tell from the way the thief twitched his fingers that he was nervous. But, for the moment, Eugene passed the king’s inspection and they were all invited into the castle to sit in a sitting area.

It was luxuriously furnished. There were tall windows framed with gorgeous red curtains on one side. Comfy chairs and recliners were scattered throughout with dainty tea tables. The king and queen took seats on a dark red couch. Eugene claimed a red armchair while Rapunzel hovered around him for a moment before pulling over another chair and setting it beside him. Sam and Danny, realizing they would have to keep up the pretense of being married, sat in a red couch looking just like the one where Rapunzel’s parents were sitting.

“Where should we start?” the queen asked, looking at their four guests.

Rapunzel glanced nervously at Eugene, who simply offered a small smile. “It’s your story.”

She turned her eyes to Danny and Sam, who simply made gestures for her to go ahead. They knew the entire story but it wasn’t their responsibility to say.

Inhaling slowly, Rapunzel ran her hands down the braid Sam had managed to fashion. “For as long as I can remember,” she began, “my hair glows and heals when I sing. It’s why Moth…Gothel took me.” She winced at the stricken look on her mother’s and father’s faces. “I didn’t know she wasn’t my mother. Not until this morning. Yesterday was the most magical day of my life and it was all because of Eugene that it even happened.” Reaching over, she took Eugene’s hand in her own. “I owe him everything.”

Eugene coughed self-consciously. “That’s not entirely true…”

“If it hadn’t been for you finding the tower, I never would have left,” Rapunzel insisted. “It’s because of you that we’re here now.”

Eugene opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off with the arrival of the captain of the guards. He instantly stiffened.

“Your Majesties, I apologize for the abrupt call on you,” the captain started, his eyes downcast. “I simply wanted to inform you that we have not yet caught Flynn Rider after his escape this morning.”

“You are still searching, are you not?” the king asked.

“Of course!” The captain looked up, glancing at Danny and Sam. “All hands are on board regarding this task. We will do our utmost to ensure that the thief is captured and given the treatment he deserves.”

Eugene seemed to sink into the cushions. Danny couldn’t yet believe that the captain hadn’t seen him. Even if he did, he already had an idea for what he could do.

At that moment, the captain’s eyes landed on Eugene and his face darkened. “ _You_!” He barged forward much to the disconcertment of the royal couple. “Rider! What are you doing in here?”

He was about to seize Eugene when Rapunzel jumped in front of him, her face resolute. “Leave him alone,” she ordered.

“It’s okay, Rapunzel,” Eugene said, standing up as well. Due to Rapunzel’s position directly in front of his feet, he was more or less leaning backward over the chair.

“What is the meaning of this?” the king demanded, getting to his feet as well. He rounded on Danny. “You said he _resembled_ someone, not that he _was_ him.”

“ _Resembled_?” The captain sneered, pointing a finger in Eugene’s direction. He made sure to point over Rapunzel’s shoulder. “This man is Flynn Rider!”

“No, he’s not,” Danny piped up, standing up. He rummaged around his person, trying to make a good show of searching his pockets before snatching the wanted poster out of the space he had it in. “He’s Eugene Fitzherbert.”

“Eugene _what_?” The captain puffed his chest out. “I can assure you that this man is not who he claims he is. He is Flynn Rider, the man who stole the lost princess’s crown.”

Danny approached Eugene’s side. “No, he’s not. I know how Flynn looks and he doesn’t look like him. See?” He held the wanted poster up besides Eugene’s head.

“A blank sheet of paper?”

To Danny’s chagrin, he had the sheet the wrong way. “Sorry.” He switched it over and showed Flynn Rider’s face, including the messed up nose that resembled an old lady’s. “See what I mean? This _isn’t_ Flynn Rider.”

Eugene had an eyebrow raised at the bluff Danny was attempting to pull off.

“That _is_ Flynn Rider,” the captain persisted doggedly, snatching the poster from Danny’s hand and holding it up to Eugene’s face. “Look at the face!”

“Do you not see the nose?” Danny asked, jabbing a finger at the completely fat nose (hey – it was an _old_ lady). “There’s no way these two guys are the same. The nose is completely different. This isn’t Flynn Rider. Like I said, he’s Eugene Fitzherbert. He just looks like Flynn Rider.”

“If I were looking for Flynn Rider, I wouldn’t even look twice at this guy,” Sam added, drawing the captain’s attention. “I’d look for someone who matches the picture to a tee. This guy doesn’t.”

Rapunzel looked both relieved and astonished at the argument Danny had concocted and added her own two cents. “So leave him alone.”

“But…” The captain didn’t seem to know what to do. He looked at the poster he was holding and then at Eugene, who was now wearing a perfectly innocent face.

Danny knew what was running through the man’s head. Here was the thief he had been chasing for the last couple of days (or years, he really didn’t know) and he couldn’t do anything about it because of a badly drawn wanted poster. He knew how Flynn Rider looked and knew that the man in front of him was the one that had been locked up last night. But there was no way he could prove it because of a mere technicality.

The king saved the captain from further voicing his thoughts. “Keep searching for the man, Captain. I’m sure you’ll find him. But it’s clear that Mr. Fitzherbert here is not Flynn Rider. The poster Mr. Thames procured is proof enough of that.”

Danny managed to prevent a smirk from crossing his face. If the king saw the other badly drawn posters hung up around the kingdom, he’d probably change his mind. There was no way so many Flynn Riders could be running around with only the nose as the defining characteristic.

“May I have the poster back now?” he asked politely. “I’d like to keep it in case my friend is again accused.”

The captain silently handed it back to the inwardly grinning ghost teen and turned to bow in the direction of the royal couple. “Majesties, I will be taking my leave.”

Rapunzel softened and placed a hand on his arm, smiling gently. “You should take good care of Maximus. He’s a good horse.”

The captain glanced at her in surprise. “Of course, Miss…?

“Rapunzel.”

“Our daughter,” the queen added, coming over to squeeze Rapunzel into a one-armed hug.

The captain’s eyes widened comically. “P-Princess!” He bent into a bow so fast that his helmet almost fell off. “I apologize for my rudeness.”

“You were only doing your job,” Rapunzel said gently. “But please leave Eugene alone. He’s the one who brought me back.”

The captain looked at Eugene, confusion painting his face. Evidently, he couldn’t believe that Flynn Rider (he knew it _was_ Flynn Rider – regardless of the poster) had brought back the lost princess. His eyes narrowed imperceptibly, although Danny caught it. Something told him that the captain would bring trouble in future times for Eugene.

With nothing to be said, the captain bowed once again to the royal couple before leaving the room.

“So,” the king started, “is there something I should know, Mr. Fitzherbert, Mr. Thames?”

Danny winced at the tone of his voice. Okay…so the king _hadn’t_ been fooled by his quick thinking. A quick glance at Sam showed her to be wearing a facial expression that practically said, “What did you think? He’s the _king_!”

‘ _That is absolutely no help at all,_ ’ he sourly figured.

Eugene coughed hollowly. “No, sir.”

Danny offered a shrug before remembering that he really shouldn’t. “No, sir.”

“I should probably have a look at the artists who draw these posters,” the king mused, looking over the sheet Danny was still holding. “We really can’t have our thieves getting off on a technicality, can we?”

Eugene and Danny quickly locked eyes. “No, sir,” they said simultaneously.

“But it seems clear that you are _not_ Flynn Rider,” the king continued, his eyes passing over his silent daughter. Rapunzel was wringing the braid Sam had made with one hand while clutching Eugene’s in the other; the Goth was deliberately averting her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see her work become spoiled. “My daughter is extraordinarily fond of you. I do hope that you will maintain your trustworthiness.”

Eugene’s eyes filled with relief and he nodded. “Of course, sir.”

Rapunzel beamed and threw her arms around Eugene, hugging him tightly. His arms squeezed to his sides, it was all Eugene could do to give her a rather weak hug in return.

The king turned to Danny. “Mr. Thames…” He paused, looking over his outfit. “Are you related to Mr. Fitzherbert?”

“What? No!” Danny was scandalized. “I’m not related to Eugene in any way.”

“You simply look remarkably alike.”

“I don’t have a goatee, brown hair, or brown eyes. I’m just dressed like this because Lily thought it looked cute.”

“It does,” Sam said, giving Danny’s cheek a quick kiss. “It’s just a bonus that you look like Eugene.”

Danny shot her an incredulous stare, to which she responded with a beatific smile. He gave up with a sigh and saw the king and queen shoot him amused smiles.

That’s when he realized that he’d just treated the king in a remarkably blasé manner and hadn’t been called out on it at all.

That was either very bad or very good…

* * *

To Eugene’s numb brain, it seemed like no time at all had passed since Rapunzel had met her parents to that first day of the insane celebration of the lost princess’s return. In fact, from the time he had seen Danny come up with that amazing bluff concerning his wanted poster (he wasn’t going to complain about the butchering of his precious nose anymore…much), he had pretty much been running on autopilot.

He’d been given a room in the castle to spend the night just like Danny and Sam had. Rapunzel had been shown her own room that had lain vacant for all these years and had promptly drawn her parents into a hug. Despite the privacy, he hadn’t been able to sleep. So he’d gotten up and started pacing the balcony that was outside his room.

He wasn’t too surprised to see a familiar figure flying around out there.

When Danny saw Eugene appear, he flew over and sat in midair, crossing his legs. “Can’t sleep either?”

“No,” Eugene confirmed. “You?”

Danny gave a half-hearted shrug. “I tried. Sam’s got the bed. I’m just worried.”

“About?”

“My home. I fight other ghosts there who want to wreck havoc. Since I’m here, I’m worried about what’s going on there.”

Eugene took this opportunity to ask a question that had been bugging him. “Are all people like you where you’re from?”

Danny flipped over on his back. “There are only three half-ghosts, me included. One of them is in outer space.” He waved vaguely in the direction of the sky. “Another is my…clone. But I call her my cousin.”

“Your _clone_?” Eugene raised his eyebrows.

Danny flipped around on his stomach, chin in his hands. “Long story and not worth getting into. Besides, she’s out seeing the world now. I saw her briefly a couple months back and she was having the time of her life.”

“That wasn’t exactly my question. What’s a clone?”

Surprised, Danny opened his mouth and closed it. “Okay…um… It’s basically a copy of you and your genetic material. In my case, it was completely unexpected and creepy. In your case, it should never ever happen.”

Eugene inclined his head, leaning on the balcony railing. “Gotcha.”

There was a comfortable silence for a few moments as Eugene gazed up at the moon. Then he asked another question. “What are your plans?”

Danny stopped what he had been doing, which was tossing around a glowing green ball from hand to hand. It fizzled out in a couple of green sparks. He formed a glowing blue ball now, studying it. “Well…there’s going to be a party. An insane one from your account.”

“My account?” Eugene wracked his brains over a party he had recently attended: he came up empty. “I don’t remember attending a party.”

“From the movie Sam and I watched.” The blue ball he had formed was shrinking into a small shape. “It’s a celebration of the lost princess. The king was talking about it during dinner.”

“Ah…” That would explain it. He had practically zoned out during the meal, completely exhausted with the day’s events and numb with the all the surprises sprung on him.

The shape Danny was working on solidified into a tiny heart. Apparently satisfied with his work, he handed it to Eugene. He took it, surprised by how cold it was; it was ice.

“For Rapunzel,” Danny clarified, answering Eugene’s unspoken question. “It shouldn’t melt considering it’s ghost ice. Anyway, do you want to hang out during the party? I’m sure Sam has plans for Rapunzel.”

Eugene couldn’t really see anything wrong with the suggestion. Besides, Danny would need someone around considering he wasn’t even from here. “Fine.”

“Cool.” Danny’s legs vanished into a ghostly tail. “I’ll see you in the morning then. Try and get some sleep.”

He saluted and flew off, leaving Eugene alone with an icy cold crystal in his hands.

Eugene studied the heart carefully, surprised by the detail that was exhibited. It was carefully rounded and smooth to the touch; it also had a slight glow. He could see the lines of his hand magnified as he looked through it.

The heart made him think of a conversation that had transpired before Rapunzel had left to go to her own room.

**_Flashback:_ **

**“It’s slightly awkward,” Rapunzel whispered to Eugene, holding his hand.**

**“Why?” Eugene glanced back at the king and queen, who were talking to some servants. “They love you.”**

**“I don’t know what to call them. I can’t…I can’t call her ‘Mother’.” Rapunzel looked slightly sick at that thought.**

**“Don’t call her that,” Sam swiftly agreed, wrinkling her nose in what Eugene presumed was disgust.**

**Danny was silent for a moment. “Why not just call her Mom?” he suggested. “It’s pretty simple. Your dad can be just that…Dad.”**

**“Mama also works,” Eugene said, not wanting to be forgotten.**

**Rapunzel considered it for a moment, looking over at her parents. “Mama…” she tried out slowly. “Dad…” Gradually, a broad smile crept across her face. “I love it!”**

**“Good. Now go stun their hearts.” Eugene winked at her, squeezing her fingers reassuringly.**

**_End Flashback._ **

Curling his hand around the cold crystal, Eugene looked up at the moon once more. Then he went back into his room, determined to at least get some sleep. He would need it if he was to get through the party Danny had mentioned.

The next thing he knew he was walking through the streets of Corona, finding himself lost in the chaos that the people had managed to set up in only a few hours. He hadn’t managed to find Danny despite their conversation the previous night and Rapunzel was with Sam.

Musing over the crystal he had in his back pocket (it was seriously cold), Eugene ran into someone. “Oh, sorry!” Then he saw who he was apologizing to. “Danny?”

The black-haired teen straightened, adjusting the straps of something Eugene recognized as his satchel. Wait…that was a _copy_ of his satchel. It didn’t possess the same wear and tear as the one lying in his room in the castle.

“Where did you get that?” Eugene asked, pointing to the satchel.

“I bought it.”

“You have money?”

Danny looked shifty. “Yeah.”

Eugene was skeptical. “Prove it.”

Danny did by handing over a red bag that was clearly full of coins. Eugene weighed it in his hand thoughtfully. How had Danny managed to get his hands on this kind of money?

“Okay, confess,” Eugene said, still holding it. “Who’d you steal it from?”

Danny sighed. “Some rich pompous guy who was bullying a guy and his wife. We figured he deserved it. It’s not like I’m a thief for life.”

“I beg to differ.” Eugene patted him on his shoulder, grinning slyly. “Welcome to our ranks.”

Danny rolled his eyes, snatching the money bag back. “Thanks.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Before Eugene could shoot back a witty retort, the two were pushed aside by a plump and very flamboyantly dressed man. Eugene could smell the alcohol on the man’s breath and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Judging by the expression on Danny’s face, he smelt the same.

“No way,” Danny muttered, looking after the guy.

“What?”

“That’s him.” Danny smirked. “And he already has more money.”

It took Eugene a second to realize that this was the guy Danny had pick pocketed (or relieved of his possessions; it was a bit more than a simple pickpocket). Upon scrutinizing the man, he had to commend Danny on his choice. The guy was seriously asking for it.

Especially with how he was kicking aside a little boy who came too close. A glance to the side showed Danny’s face was flushed in anger.

“Okay. He’s totally asking for it,” Eugene admitted.

Danny’s answer was clipped. “He is.”

“How’d you do it in the first place?”

Eugene thought he saw a glint of green in Danny’s blue eyes before it was gone. “How do you think?”

A smile flitted across his face. “If you ask me…I don’t think he’d notice if he was suddenly _relieved_ of his luggage.”

Danny smirked at him, a definite glint of green in his eyes now. “My pleasure.”

The teen nonchalantly walked by the drunken nobleman. Only Eugene’s sharp eyes noted the way a bag at the man’s waist suddenly turned invisible and the way Danny casually turned to look at a nearby vendor’s wares. After a cursory glance, he made a roundabout and stopped by Eugene’s side, the hand by his side suddenly becoming visible with a fat bag in it.

“Nice,” Eugene commented. “Just a little less flair and you’ll be golden.”

Danny shot him a dirty look. “Running from guards is considered on the down low?”

Eugene put up his hands. “That was one time!”

A raised eyebrow told Eugene that Danny highly doubted that was the case. “If you really want to know, let’s talk about this over drinks.” Before Danny could protest, Eugene was steering him through the streets. “I know this really great place around here.”

“It better not be another Snuggly Duckling,” Danny muttered, going along with Eugene’s directions.

“That was completely unexpected,” Eugene said, insulted.

“The look on your face gave that away,” Danny shot back.

Eugene shook his head, not bothering to reply to that. The fact that Danny knew most of his adventure with Rapunzel was disconcerting but not something to worry about. It couldn’t be helped considering that he wasn’t even from here.

Speaking of the Snuggly Duckling, the thugs had been released from the jail after the king had heard the story from Rapunzel and Eugene. The guards hadn’t been happy about it but had released them without a fuss. The thugs had all given Rapunzel hugs while patting Eugene on the back. Danny and Sam had been conspicuously absent during the proceedings.

Since then, Eugene hadn’t seen them. He was sure they were around somewhere but that wasn’t on his list of priorities at the moment. He was concentrating more on reaching the outskirts of the island, which was where the pub would be located.

“Ah, here it is,” he announced grandly once they’d reached a rather shady looking pub on the docks. “The Jaunty Moose.”

“The Jaunty _Moose_?” Danny sounded incredulous. “Why are all your pubs named after animals? Better yet, why are there adjective like ‘snuggly’ and ‘jaunty’ in the names?”

“Not _all_ of our pubs are named after animals,” Eugene objected. “Case in point, I stayed in a lovely tavern called the Prepubescent Teenager.”

Danny was silent for a long moment. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No! Why would I?”

“Karma bites me in the butt,” the teen muttered, rubbing his temples and confusing Eugene.

He just shrugged it off. “Eh, whatever.” Opening the door, he pushed Danny inside.

“You know I’m underage, right?” Danny said, following Eugene to the bar.

“They won’t know,” Eugene assured him. “You look old enough.”

“I’m pretty sure my parents would be wondering why a guy about twenty-four years old is bringing a sixteen-year-old teenager into a bar and saying it doesn’t matter.”

“Your parents aren’t here, though, are they?” Eugene smirked, knocking Danny into a chair. He called to the bartender, “Two mugs of your finest!”

“How old are you anyway?” Danny asked, keeping his hands off the wooden counter.

“You were two years off.”

“Twenty-six?”

Eugene raised an eyebrow. “Do I _look_ twenty-six to you?”

“Twenty-two? You _act_ awfully young…”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Eugene said.

At that moment, someone arrived with their drinks and set them down in front of the two. Eugene looked to see Danny. He did a double take and looked to the side: Danny was still there and sporting a large grin. Looking again revealed that it _was_ Danny.

“Wait. There are two of you?” Eugene asked, confused.

“Your drinks,” the second Danny said, a smile playing at his lips. He shot the Danny sitting beside Eugene a wink and walked off.

Completely befuddled, Eugene looked down at his mug. “Hey. This is water!”

“That is what’s called duplication,” Danny informed him, clinking his mug against Eugene’s. “Very useful skill, especially if I don’t want alcohol.”

“Where’d you get this?”

“From a puddle outside.”

Eugene raised an eyebrow, sniffing the water in the mug. His look caused Danny to snicker.

“Okay, so I didn’t. I just took the mugs from the bartender and poured them in that plant over there.” He pointed toward a very sorry looking plant in the corner that Eugene could tell had seen better days. “Then I went to the tap and filled them with water.” Taking a sip of his drink, he grimaced. “Ugh…”

It was Eugene’s turn to grin now. “And that is why we don’t get water in pubs, my friend.” He set aside the mug; he certainly wasn’t going to be drinking water from a pub when there was much better water to be had from the river.

A robust voice caused the two to snap their heads around for the source of it. “Rider!”

A hook smashed into the counter next to Danny’s mug, almost upending it. He snatched it before it could meet an untimely end. The hook-handed thug from the Snuggly Duckling was peering into Danny’s face.

“Wait. You’re not Rider,” he muttered.

“Over here,” Eugene quipped, leaning forward and flashing a grin.

“Name’s Will,” Danny said dryly, clearly not amused at being mistaken for Flynn Rider. “You do realize I have black hair, right?”

Hook-Hand claimed the seat by Danny. “You’re not a relation of Rider by any chance, are you?”

Danny considered his mug. “No.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Eugene broke in, shoving his mug toward Hook-Hand

“They’re celebrating her return!” Hook-Hand said jubilantly, taking the mug and waving it around. “And it’s all thanks to you!”

“I couldn’t have done it without your help,” Eugene said. “Again, thanks for the prison break.”

“It wasn’t for you, Rider,” Hook-Hand said. He took a sip of the water and promptly choked and spit it out. “What is this?”

“Water,” Danny said flatly.

“You’re drinking _water_ , Rider?”

“He didn’t want to,” Danny said. “I just don’t want him going around wasted when he’s supposed to remember this celebration.”

“How sweet of you,” Eugene said sarcastically.

Danny shot him a winning smile and turned back to Hook-Hand. “I overheard from Rapunzel that you have a really cool dream. She’s ecstatic since Eugene helped her.”

Eugene had to stifle a groan at Danny’s apparently nonchalant change in subject. At least they wouldn’t be singing this time…

But Hook-Hand brightened at Danny’s subject change and promptly broke out into song, causing Eugene’s head to hit the counter in dismay.

_I’ve always wanted to become a classical pianist…_

“Did you have to?” Eugene hissed.

“Yes,” Danny responded, watching as Hook-Hand jumped onto a table and continued his impromptu reprise of the song he had performed in the Snuggly Duckling just two days ago.

“I suppose you watched what happened last time?”

“It was hilarious. Nice job on the barrel.”

Before Eugene could give his witty reply, he was surprised to see the other Snuggly Duckling thugs also appear out of the woodworks and belt out their dreams to the entire pub. For crying out loud, it had just been an innocent change in subject!

“Sappy and truthful or gritty and false?” Danny asked, watching Vladimir pull out his ceramic unicorns.

Eugene blinked at him. “Huh?”

His question was answered when all the thugs in the pub (or what seemed like all the thugs) gathered around him.

“What about you?” Hook-Hand asked Eugene. “Has your dream changed?”

‘ _Oh._ ’ Eugene found himself scrambling for a decent dream. “Err…” Should he go with sappy and truthful or gritty and false? The raised eyebrow from Danny decided it for him. Everyone else had given their dreams, “touchy-feely” or not, and he should do the same.

Just as he was still deciding how to word his new dream, which _was_ ridiculously sappy, he was yanked by the scruff of his shirt onto a table. Put into the spotlight like that _again_ , Eugene found he had to improvise.

_Lost in a pool of green,_

_Suddenly I can’t believe I’ve never seen_

_My life without this girl._

_And yes, I’m well aware that it’s touchy-feely._

Finished with his made up on the spot ditty, Eugene jumped off the table, trying to hide his red face. Really, a “pool of green”? He couldn’t have come up with anything better to describe Rapunzel’s eyes?

But his new dream was apparently popular among the thugs, who had broken into a rendition of:

_He’s got a dream,_

_He’s got a dream…_

“And how about you, Flynn Rider-lookalike?” Hook-Hand asked Danny.

With a wicked glint in his eye that Eugene didn’t really like, Danny jumped onto the table Eugene had vacated.

_I’ve got a dream like you, no really;_

_Just much less touchy-feely._

_They mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny_

Oh God… Danny was reciting his old dream line for line! He even had the mannerisms and voice down!

_On an island that I own,_

_Tanned and rested and alone_

_Surrounded by enormous piles of money._

Danny took a bow, a bright grin painting his features.

He was met with boos. “That’s _Rider’s_ dream! What’s _yours_?”

Eugene saw one of the thugs throw a tomato – where’d he get that anyway? – at Danny. The teen sidestepped it without thinking and did a spin on his heels, breaking into new lines that didn’t have anything to do with Eugene at all.

_Sure, I’ve got a dream just like all of you._

_I might stink at math_

_But I know the sun’s distance is 92,955,820.5 miles from Earth_

_And that Jupiter is the largest planet_

_And, hey, what happened to Pluto?_

Was he the only one confused by what Danny was spouting? A quick glance around the pub showed that he wasn’t.

_I’ve got a dream_

_And while I lack in academic credentials_

_I’m going to reach the stars one day!_

‘ _Cause way down deep inside I’ve got a dream!_

Danny finished with a flourish, leaping up to touch the ceiling rafters before landing lightly on the table and giving a grand bow.

Although most of the thugs (okay, _all_ of them) were confused by what Danny had spouted, they broke into much applause. The black-haired teen grinned widely, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Then it was all ruined with a loud roar of “ _Rider_!” that wasn’t joyful at all. In fact, it sounded really mad.

Eugene scarcely had time to look when a furious thug approached Danny from behind, throwing a dagger in the teen’s direction. Danny didn’t miss a beat as he jumped off the table, ducking the knife by a couple of millimeters. He grabbed Eugene by the arm and stopped there, putting his other hand up defensively.

“Whoa! I’m not Rider!”

The thug squinted at Danny. Eugene wondered why he wasn’t looking in his direction and looked down, jumping in surprise when he found that he couldn’t see his body at all. So _that’s_ what Danny had been thinking, grabbing him by the arm like that.

After a few more moments of dubious silence, the thug sneered at Danny again. “Sure you are! I’d recognize those clothes anywhere!” He gestured to someone in the back. “Get him!”

Danny swore and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “ _Sam_ ”.

A hook grabbed Danny by the scruff of his shirt and into the crowd of Snuggly Duckling thugs. Eugene found Danny’s fingers slipping and grabbed onto the teen’s shoulder to ensure his invisibility held. He didn’t remember this thug but he had a lot of years of thieving under his belt. He must have done something to piss this guy off.

“Get out of here,” Hook-Hand whispered to Danny. His eyes darted around the place. “Where’s Rider?”

“With me,” Danny assured him quickly. “Thanks and be careful.”

“They’re the ones who’ll have to be careful,” Hook-Hand said, giving Danny a push in the direction of the exit.

Danny gave him a small wave and then ducked out of the pub into the open air. “I _don’t_ have brown hair or eyes and I don’t have a goatee. Why do people keep thinking I’m you?” he asked Eugene.

“It could be the clothes,” Eugene pointed out reasonably.

Further discussion was halted when a group of thugs stumbled out of the door Danny had pelted through only seconds before.

Their eyes landed on Danny. “ _Rider_!”

Danny grumbled and immediately sprinted into a side venue right by the pub. In a wink, he had vanished from Eugene’s sight. The thugs were completely befuddled as they also headed into the same area.

“Where’d he go?”

One of the thugs looked around and seemed to spot something. “Over there!”

On cue, they all sprinted away, leaving Danny to return both of them into visibility. He shot Eugene a wry look. “No more pubs, yeah?”

Eugene found he really couldn’t disagree given his recent track record with bars. “Sure.”

* * *

Danny had to admit that, excluding the incident in the Jaunty Moose, the day was fun. Actually, the fiasco in the pub had been fun, too. Seeing Eugene’s expression as his duplicate switched the drinks out for water had been priceless.

It was too bad that those thugs had gone after Eugene and spoiled their fun. On the plus side, duplicates were awesome. He’d enjoyed telling Eugene just what had distracted their chasers.

What did peeve him was how many people mistook him for Flynn Rider. He did not have a goatee, his hair was black, and his eyes were blue. But it was pointless complaining about it.

Overall, the day had been fun. It was over – although the party certainly wasn’t – and they were back at the castle. Sam and Rapunzel were relaxing on the balcony (or _a_ balcony), which was where Danny and Eugene found them.

“You’re back,” Sam said, smiling as they stepped onto the balcony. “We haven’t seen you all day.”

“We did a ton of fun stuff,” Danny said, walking to the railing. The view of the ocean was particularly stunning. “What did you two do?”

“We went into the square,” Sam said, beaming. “It was so much fun!”

“I painted something again,” Rapunzel said, linking her arm through Eugene’s. Her long blonde hair was again bound in a braid. “And we went into a bookstore. Oh, Eugene…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “…there are so many people!”

“And they all love you,” Sam said firmly. She looked at Danny. “What did you guys do?”

“We hung out in a pub,” Danny said, deciding not to go into any details as to what had happened. “And Eugene showed me around the kingdom.”

In other words, it basically meant that Eugene had shown Danny all the back ways of Corona. This meant showing him where a thief could travel to evade the authorities. It had been fun and enlightening for both men. Danny was going to be sorry to leave Eugene when he went back home.

… _If_ it even happened. He had no clue how it would.

But in any case, he’d particularly enjoyed seeing how Eugene had climbed onto the palace roof. It had been something intriguing him since he’d first seen the scene in the movie.

**_Flashback:_ **

“ **So I was wondering,” Danny said, “how exactly did you climb onto the castle roof?”**

**They were standing on a building at the wharf. Eugene had taken him there to regale him with a tale of how he’d fled on a ship before jumping into the sea and swimming back to the mainland. Danny had taken it with a grain of salt; he knew too much about embellishing tales.**

**Eugene looked back at the towering castle. “What do you think?”**

“ **I’m not a thief, Eugene. Besides, I’d fly up there. Somehow, I doubt you could do that.”**

“ **Touché.” Eugene turned Danny around and pointed him in the direction of how to get off the building. “How about I show you?”**

“ **Here’s a quick question: why’d you do it in broad daylight?” Danny asked, sliding down the gutter to land in the street. Eugene followed shortly thereafter.**

**Eugene snorted, taking the lead to guide them. “You kidding me? The Stabbington brothers and climbing around in the dark? I’d’ve been short two helpers and a crown.”**

**Danny studied at him curiously. “Whose idea was it anyway?”**

**Eugene was quiet as he answered. “They’re not the brightest bunch in the lot, I’ll tell you that much. So I was surprised when they approached me with some half-baked plan regarding the lost princess’s crown.”**

**They were walking through some shady back streets and Danny kept close to Eugene. “Why’d you go through with it?”**

**Eugene sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Let me tell you something first: I was six when I started stealing. I was ten when I realized it wasn’t just extraordinarily good luck that I hadn’t been caught. I was thirteen when I left Eugene Fitzherbert behind for Flynn Rider. In all my years as a thief, I only swindled other thieves, the rich and cruel, and those who just plain deserved it. In fact, it was like what you did earlier. I’d never actually done anything that was outright… _cruel_.”**

**Danny glanced down at his satchel, which held the bag he had stolen. He really didn’t regret it. “What made you do it?”**

“ **My dream,” Eugene sighed, stopping besides a wooden building. “I was so close to getting my own place and actually _being_ Flynnagin Rider. I think that’s what really cinched it for me. Now, I regret that decision.”**

**Danny was silent for a long moment, thinking over what he had just been told. “If you hadn’t stolen the crown,” he finally said, “you wouldn’t have met Rapunzel. I think it was fate that led you to make that decision.”**

“ **You believe in fate?”**

“ **I believe that we make our own path in life,” Danny said. “I also believe that there’s a higher power guiding us. In my case, it’s the ghost of time.”**

**Eugene stared at him blankly. “The ghost of _what_?”**

“ **Time. It’s a long story.”**

“ **I bet,” Eugene muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. “So…before I show you, I have this one little question.”**

**Danny wondered what he’d have to ask. “Shoot.”**

“ **What’s that stylish emblem you have on your suit?” Eugene made a circular motion in the approximate area on his person.**

**He hadn’t expected that but he could work with it… “It’s something Sam made for me. Long story short, it involved alternate timelines, a very mad friend, and wishes. Lots of wishes.”**

“ **Wasn’t it a wish that brought you here?”**

“ **Yeah. It also involved the same ghost. The difference is that it’s in your world and it’s wickedly cool.” Danny grinned at Eugene. “I mean, I’m still worried about what’s going on back home but I’m enjoying it here.”**

“ **My pleasure,” Eugene said, returning the grin. He knocked on the building he was leaning against. “So…concisely put, _this_ is how we made it up there.” He pointed up to the castle, which was looming directly above their heads.**

**Danny inspected the building, which looked rather moldy and run down. “Is it bouncy? Because, frankly, it looks like it’s about to fall down.”**

**Eugene made a dismissive noise. “That’s because you haven’t yet seen it.” He grabbed Danny’s arm and pushed him through a door that the half-ghost somehow hadn’t seen. “In you go!”**

**Danny found himself in something that looked like stables. There was really moldy hay at his feet and broken down stalls lining the walls. There was a ladder at the far end leading to a platform, which was where Eugene was headed. Still skeptical, he followed the older man and stopped at the foot of the ladder.**

**“This looks it’ll break at any moment,” Danny observed.**

**“It didn’t break,” Eugene said, climbing on the platform. “Ergo, I gather it’s safe. You did say you wanted to see how I made it to the top of the castle.”**

**Tentatively, Danny began climbing the ladder, making sure to keep his feet light on the rusty rungs. “Do people even say ‘ergo’ anymore?”**

**“I just did. Ergo, people do.”**

**Danny pulled himself onto the platform. “It wasn’t funny the first time and it’s not funny the second time.”**

**Eugene rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. Instead, he pushed up on the ceiling to open a hatch that led to the roof of the building. He jumped up and out of the building; Danny followed on his heels and promptly found himself at the foot of what he recognized was a pipe.**

**“No way. You _climbed_ this thing?” Danny asked incredulously. “How did it not break under your combined weight?”**

**Eugene considered that for a moment before shrugging. “Don’t know. I just don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” He grabbed hold of the pipe and began climbing it. “Since it didn’t collapse under our weight, feel free to climb after me.”**

**Still puzzling over the physics, Danny grabbed hold and began pulling himself up. “Here’s another question,” he called, hefting himself up another foot. “How is it that on an island there are so many hidden streets?”**

**“There are lots more nooks and crannies than what I’ve shown you,” Eugene called back. “It’s just the way the city’s planned out.”**

**Mentally grumbling that it didn’t really answer his question, Danny set aside the conundrum and focused on climbing as the wind was beginning to buffet his body. The satchel bumped against his thigh as he continued up the pipe.**

**He kept climbing until finding himself reaching a window where Eugene had huddled himself into. The ledge between the pane of glass and the empty abyss was only two inches wide. The window curved into an arch and sank inwards, meaning one could brace oneself against the stone. Regardless, it was still a risky endeavor and Danny had to wonder why Eugene did it.**

**He carefully slid onto the ledge, making sure to support himself by keeping a hand over his head and against the “ceiling”. The other went behind his back against the rim. His feet were in line and touching Eugene’s.**

“ **Not scared, are you?” Eugene asked playfully.**

“ **If I were scared of heights, I’d never fly around,” Danny retorted.**

**“Point taken,” Eugene conceded.**

“ **What are we doing here anyway?”**

**Eugene squinted into the glass to see it overlooked a large room that was completely empty. “We’re here because I just wanted to tell you that we can’t really stop up there. Momentum is _key_ , okay?”**

“ **If something happens, I can always fly out.”**

**Eugene flashed him a grin. “But where’s the fun in that? Act human, Inigo!”**

“ **It’s Danny!”**

**But Eugene had already jumped onto the pipe from his precarious position two feet away. Mentally admiring the older man’s agility, Danny was much more careful in following. Just because it had held before didn’t mean it wasn’t going to break _this_ time.**

**When he finally pulled himself up, it was to immediately cling to the extremely steep blue steeple roof he was on. The tiles were worn smooth under his hands but the grooves gave him somewhat of a decent grip.**

“ **Any issues?” Eugene asked, already creeping around the side.**

“… **Nope.” Danny carefully followed, making sure he wouldn’t slip off.**

“ **Jump, William!” Eugene suddenly jumped onto the ridge of the red roof that made up part of the main castle and not a tower. He promptly slid down out of sight.**

**Danny jumped, too, landing rather roughly on the ridge. He instantly recognized this section as the one where the movie had started with Eugene and the evil brothers. Knowing this made him slightly more confident as he slid down the tiles and jumped right onto the rounded roof Eugene had gone moments before.**

**Now he saw what Eugene had meant by momentum. Without the momentum from the slide down the roof, he wouldn’t have enough to make the jumps, however short they were, from one small ledge to the next without greatly increasing his risks of falling over.**

**Then he reached a precarious ledge that wrapped around a corner. He grabbed onto the stone edge of a window right there and swung himself around, seeing that Eugene had stopped on a much more level section of red roof only two feet away with a sharp drop between them. Still using his momentum from before, Danny pushed off the ledge to land next to the thief.**

**He immediately poked the thief in the chest. “It’s _Danny_.”**

**Eugene pushed his finger away, grinning. “Good to see you remembered,” he said, inclining his head towards the half-ghost.**

**Danny gave it up, shrugged, and made his way over to the place Eugene had been at during the beginning of the movie. “Theoretically speaking, my life is in your hands. It would be stupid of me _not_ to.”**

**“Good point.” Eugene chuckled softly, watching as Danny leaned out over the edge. “Like the view?”**

“ ** _Like_ it? It’s _beautiful_!” Danny exclaimed, the rough wind ruffling his raven-black hair. “How could you get used to a view like this?”**

“ **I was being sarcastic.” Eugene shrugged. “And I assume you know that from the movie?”**

“ **Yep. But the movie didn’t show how windy it is up here.”**

**Eugene grunted, stepping over to a certain place on the roof that looked more disturbed than the rest. He looked over at Danny, who joined him. “I don’t suppose you have any tools in that satchel of yours?”**

**Danny grinned, transforming. He turned intangible and sank through the roof, poking his head out to look at Eugene. “Ghosts don’t just fly and turn invisible. They fly through stuff, too.” He took Eugene’s hand, extending the intangibility.**

“… **I feel tingly,” Eugene commented after a moment.**

“ **Yep.” Danny pulled him down, readjusting so Eugene’s arm was slung over his shoulder. They were now both invisible as he hadn’t been sure whether anyone was there.**

**As they slowly descended to the place where the crown had been located, Danny finished scanning the room and realized it was completely empty save for the carpets, tapestries, and the pedestal sitting in the middle. He let Eugene go once they were on the ground but stayed by his side in case someone walked in.**

**The thief gave a whistle and turned in a slow three-sixty before heading over to the purple tapestry that was on the far wall. Danny floated after him, head craned back so he could look at the high ceiling and the ornate wooden panels. He was surprised when Eugene suddenly asked something.**

**“What happened to your satchel?”**

**“Huh?” Danny blinked, taken aback. “Oh…” Giving a shrug, he explained, “It’s what happens when I go ghost. Anything on my human person disappears and reappears when I turn back. It’s the same for my ghost half.”**

**“Nifty,” Eugene murmured, walking back to the pedestal that had hosted the crown.**

**“Eh…I guess so.” Danny turned upside down, legs crossed. He was floating by Eugene’s head. “It’s a pain sometimes, though.”**

**Eugene blinked twice when seeing Danny’s new position but didn’t say anything. “I’d call it an advantage. You don’t have to cart the stuff around when you…’go ghost’.”**

**“Yeah but I normally carry my thermos around in my ghost form. It’s a pain when I don’t want to go ghost and have to in order to get rid of the pest that’s annoying me.”**

**Eugene eyed him questioningly but apparently decided not to ask. Any further conversation was halted by approaching voices and footsteps. Danny instantly grabbed Eugene, turning them both invisible. He then lifted Eugene up off the floor.**

**“You _heard_ that?” Eugene whispered, surprised to see some servants enter the room.**

“ **Perk of being half-ghost,” Danny whispered back, phasing through the roof. He let Eugene go and turned back to human. “So what now?”**

**Eugene finished checking his feet and looked up at Danny with an infectious grin on his face. “Now comes the fun stuff! Want to make a quick getaway Flynn Rider style?”**

**Before Danny could answer, Eugene had darted off. Sparing his breath, he raced after him. When Eugene abruptly disappeared down a drop, Danny didn’t hesitate to slide down the steep roof after him. He landed on a flatter portion that was only a couple of feet wide and promptly found himself sliding down this section as well to keep on Eugene’s heels.**

**Man…he was _fast_!**

**But then he would have to be in order to evade capture for so long.**

**Then Danny almost plummeted off the ledge. He managed to evade the drop by jumping across the ledge onto another round roof with a small ledge traversing it. Eugene had already dropped from this onto a roof section ten feet down, rolling as he hit the tiles. Mentally hoping he wouldn’t do something ridiculous, like fall on his face, Danny lightly dropped down and rolled as well to avoid the tremendous shock impact to his ankles.**

**From then on it was nonstop running to keep after Eugene, who had jumped from this roof to a sprint helter-skelter down a small ledge that winded its way to the side of the castle. At that point, Eugene suddenly seemed to slide and Danny saw why when he came there himself: it was a gutter.**

**Unable to stop for fear he would slip and fall off, Danny jumped into the gutter and abruptly fell onto his backside, sliding down it at a breakneck speed for a few seconds. Then the gutter abruptly came to an end, shooting Danny off into the air. Disoriented, it took him a split-second to register that Eugene had landed on a building outside of the castle walls and for him to place his feet accordingly and land in a position that enabled him to roll over onto his side and back onto his feet.**

**Then he was running again, keeping on Eugene’s heels as he jumped from building to building. They were in the main area of the town now.**

**The rooftop journey stopped when Eugene dropped down onto a small shed before further descending to the cobblestone street. Easily shifting his weight, Danny followed suit and continued sprinting until he reached the bridge.** **Here was where Eugene abruptly stopped, almost causing Danny to crash into his back. As it was, Danny skidded past him and had to turn around, his breath coming hard.**

**“What a rush, huh?” Eugene exclaimed, also breathing heavily.**

**Danny had to grin and wipe away a bead of sweat that trickled down his temple. “Oh, yeah! Now I see how you managed to make it to the bridge so quickly.”**

**“You want to do it again? This time I’ll let you lead.” Eugene shot him a grin. “Let’s see how good your thieving skills are.”**

**Danny smirked devilishly, accepting Eugene’s unspoken challenge. “Oh, it’s _on_.”**

**_End Flashback._ **

Following that challenge, it had been Danny’s turn to lead Eugene through the twisting streets in the shady areas of Corona. Using his memory, which had been honed through two years of fighting to make notes of shortcuts and other advantageous routes to use during brawls, he managed to make it to the stable Eugene had used earlier.

Following that had been a rather hazardous route back to the roof. Even Danny had to admit that balancing along the ridge of the roof with two extra steep slopes on either side hadn’t been his cleverest idea. Eugene had managed to keep his balance but there had been some close calls whenever a sheer gust of wind swept through.

Regardless, Danny had led them to the roof using a different route than Eugene’s. His was riskier and in plain sight of several watchtowers. He had to cheat and use his ghost powers to turn them invisible. He didn’t want Eugene to get in trouble after the king had turned a blind eye to his alias.

In the end, Eugene had simply said that Danny had quite a bit of learning to do. Danny had retorted that he wasn’t going to be a thief either way so it was a moot point.

“Why are you smiling?” Sam asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts. She had approached his side while he was remembering what had happened earlier.

“It’s nothing,” Danny said, shaking his head slightly. He idly reached out and took a strand of her black hair, twirling it in his fingers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eugene plant a kiss on Rapunzel’s head. Pascal, sitting on the chair Rapunzel had abandoned, turned a bright shade of red.

Sam had also seen and, smiling softly, she leaned in to Danny. “It’s so sweet, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.” Danny sighed, letting his hand drop.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just…how are we going to get back? Don’t get me wrong: I’m going to miss this place. I’m just really worried.”

Sam shrugged, although her face revealed the worry she was also feeling. “We’ll figure it out.”

The two adjusted their positions as Eugene and Rapunzel joined them by the balcony railing. They stood there silently, watching the moon’s gleam on the waves of the ocean.

Rapunzel sighed softly, huddling closer into Eugene’s side. “It’s so beautiful. I never knew it would look like this.”

“There’s a lot more you haven’t seen yet, Blondie,” Eugene said. “One day, I’m going to show it to you.”

Rapunzel brightened. “That would be fun! And Danny and Sam can also come, can’t they?”

Danny hated to squash the hopeful look she shot her way. “Rapunzel…we’re probably not going to be here anymore.”

“What he means is that we’re probably going to be home,” Sam added hastily, seeing Rapunzel’s face fall. “This isn’t our world.”

Danny rubbed his face tiredly, sort of wishing that it was. He didn’t have any reporters hounding him or any ghosts jumping at him from odd corners. Heck, he didn’t even have any schoolwork to worry about!

“I’ve got an idea, though,” Sam continued, grabbing Danny’s attention again. “Why don’t we leave something behind so you can always remember us?”

“Like what?” Danny asked, wondering what he had on him that would work. He’d already given Eugene a heart made out of ice, although he didn’t think Rapunzel had received it yet.

“A lantern. One that _you_ made.”

Danny eyed her skeptically. “A _lantern_ , Sam?”

“Made out of ice! It should work, yeah?”

“I don’t know…”

“I’d love that, Danny,” Rapunzel said wistfully. “What do you think, Eugene?”

Eugene smiled amusedly at the resigned look on Danny’s face. “Why not? It’d be a nice keepsake.”

“All right. I make no promises on the floating capabilities of it.” Danny put up his hands in surrender and then transformed.

He turned to the railing and put his hands together, brow furrowing in concentration. His eyes flared blue and his hands glowed correspondingly. A glowing blue octagonal shape formed between them, slowly solidifying to reveal something that resembled a blue lantern.

“Could you put a ghost ray in there or something?” Sam asked. “If it’s a vacuum, it should hold.”

Danny sighed but began to concentrate again. He sealed the top with ice and then put one hand underneath the lantern. Unconsciously biting his lower lip, he lit a very small ecto-beam and let it release. It floated there inside the ice, threatening to extinguish itself until Danny sealed the bottom with ice as well. The end result was a blue lantern that gave off a soft greenish-blue glow due to the green flame flickering inside it.

Danny handed it to Rapunzel, transforming back as he did.

She took it carefully, her face awestruck. “It’s _cold_.”

“It is made out of ice,” Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “And it shouldn’t melt. The only problem is that it won’t float.”

“But you can make it levitate,” Sam hinted, nudging his shoulder.

Danny gave her a weary smile. “So I can. But it won’t last.”

“Only for a little bit?” Eugene suggested, apparently intrigued.

With even Pascal chirping in agreement, Danny found that he really couldn’t refuse. Wondering how he got himself into this kind of a situation in the first place, he once again transformed. This time he closed his eyes in concentration and focused on the lantern. He pictured it floating right above Rapunzel’s hands.

A soft gasp a few moments later alerted him to the fact that it was working. Still keeping his mind on the lantern, he chanced opening his eyes to see the lantern surrounded by a green aura and floating several inches above Rapunzel’s hands.

“Danny,” Sam whispered, tugging his elbow.

His concentration wavered slightly. “What, Sam?”

“Danny, look,” Sam hissed. “ _Smoke_. And it’s _green_.”

Suspicious now, Danny let the lantern drop back into Rapunzel’s hands to look. He only had to glance downward to see green smoke creeping around his and Sam’s legs. The tendrils snaked up his legs and curled around his waist.

“Danny? Sam?” Rapunzel sounded alarmed.

“Don’t worry,” Danny said reassuringly, meeting Sam’s eyes with a smile. “It just means we’re going home.”

“I guess this is goodbye then,” Sam said, smiling sadly. She reached forward to touch Rapunzel’s hands. “It was nice to meet you.”

Danny gave Eugene a grin. “It was great hanging out with you. Good luck with your dream.”

By this time, the smoke was up to their necks and beginning to cover their heads. The last Danny saw of Eugene and Rapunzel was of them looking at them disappear, a glowing ghost lantern in Rapunzel’s hands.

Then he was in a dark room filled with clocks and a large viewing screen.


	4. Chapter 4

Tucker Foley had been many things in his sixteen years of life: best friend of Danny Fenton, techno geek, victim of bullies, mayor of Amity Park, best friend of Danny Phantom, ghost hunter extraordinaire, and a ladies’ man. Granted, the last one was more of a delusion than anything else but his repartee amongst the ladies _was_ improving, especially since he had traded his thick wire-framed glasses for thin ones that accentuated his olive green eyes. He’d also ditched the beret in favor of growing his hair out more.

But ladies’ man or not, nothing Tucker had been before this time could prepare him for this fiasco: Danny Phantom was missing. And it wasn’t like, “Oh, he’s gone out for a flight; he’ll be back soon.” No. Danny Phantom was _missing_ , as in no one could find him or his girlfriend anywhere.

It had started with a call from Maddie, Danny’s mom, a couple of hours before this chaos broke out. She had asked Tucker whether he’d seen Danny or Sam since they’d last gone on a date to the movie.

_“They went to a movie?”_

_“Sam wanted to watch **Tangled**.”_

_“I thought she hated fluffy Disney princesses…”_

_“She said something about this one ‘touting a frying pan’. Tucker, have you seen them?”_

_“No, I’m sorry, Mrs. Fenton. I haven’t. If I do, I’ll let them know you asked for them, all right?”_

That conversation had taken place several hours ago. Since then, Amity Park had gone to hell in a picnic basket. Since the “hell” in question was caused by Desiree, Tucker had a suspicion that she had something to do with Danny and Sam disappearing. But how could she if no one had made a wish? He knew full well that they had agreed to never make any wishes outside the privacy of their own heads in case Desiree eavesdropped.

 _Especially_ since the incident with the giant mutated squirrel that Sam had randomly wished for to stop the bulldozing of some trees in the park of Amity Park. Needless to say, there had been no bulldozing planned for that day or any other day after that.

But that wasn’t the point. What _was_ the point was that Tucker was outside in the streets, having been ousted from his office by a random pack of vampire unicorns that some little girl in a birthday party had probably wished for. Why would someone wish for _vampire_ unicorns?

“Everything’s all about vampires today,” Tucker muttered in despair, stepping into an alley to dodge a rampant mailbox that was chasing a screaming pedestrian. He really couldn’t do anything since he had no weapons on him. Besides, the mailbox was soon destroyed by a green beam that came from an ecto-gun held by Jazz Fenton.

“You okay, Tucker?” Jazz asked, peeking into the alley where he’d hidden.

“Fine!” Tucker said brightly, stepping out into the street. “Just, you know, chilling…”

Jazz smirked. “Right.”

The Fenton RV (or Ghost Massacring Vehicle as termed by Danny a couple of months ago after it almost took his head off) screeched to a halt besides the two. Jack Fenton flung open the door and poked his upper body out, wielding a huge ecto-gun.

“Seen Danny yet?” he asked Tucker.

Tucker shook his head. “Nope. By the way, mind tossing me one of those?”

Handed a smaller ecto-gun from someone sitting beside him, Jack tossed it to the dark-skinned teen. “New and improved!”

Immediately suspicious, Tucker made sure to hold the mouth of the barrel away from his face as he looked for any buttons that he might push on accident. When it was clear that the gun was for the most part safe, he handled it more confidently. Anything that was classified “new and improved” by Jack had to be given a good onceover. Unfortunately, now was not the time to do so.

“Relax,” Jazz told him. “Danny had it tested yesterday.”

“Oh good,” Tucker said, relieved. “I didn’t want it blowing up in my face.”

As if to compound his words, a mini explosion sounded from behind them. They looked to see what resembled a green nuclear cloud jettisoning from the street. Once the smoke had dissipated slightly, a crater that spanned the entire width of the street was revealed.

“Do you see Desiree anywhere?” Tucker asked.

“What makes you think it’s Desiree?” Jazz inquired.

“Vampire unicorns barging through my office.” Tucker began jogging towards the crater. “I don’t know any other ghost that would come up with something like that.”

“Point taken,” Jazz said, keeping pace. She looked back at the RV. “Mom! Dad! It’s Desiree we have to keep an eye out for!”

“Got it, sweetie!” her mom called. “We’re plugging her ecto-signature in right now.”

“Do they mean that device that ended up plowing the RV into a building?”

“I think so.”

Within a minute, the RV made a complete U-turn and sped off…only to crash into a lamppost. The occupants were unharmed as they stumbled out of the doors.

“I told you I fixed it, Mads!” Jack argued, scratching his graying hair.

“The lamppost is _not_ a ghost, Jack,” Maddie said firmly.

Still arguing, the ghost hunter couple caught up with Tucker and Jazz. Then the four of them sprinted to the crater.

Since he couldn’t see anyone, Tucker suddenly got a brilliant idea that he wished he had thought of earlier. He shouted it to the heavens. “I wish I was at wherever the ghost causing all of this is!”

Jazz started in alarm. “ _Tucker_!”

But it was too late. He abruptly found himself face down in the street and lifted his face up, wincing as his nose smarted from the unexpected impact. Looking up, he saw that he had landed directly under Desiree, who was sourly glaring at him.

“Bold idea,” she said, her arms folded across her chest. “Are you sure you won’t regret it?”

“Nah.” Tucker got to his feet and brushed his vest off. He pointed the ecto-gun in her direction. “Where’re Danny and Sam, Desiree? And while you’re at it, I wish Jazz, Maddie, and Jack Fenton were here, too!”

Desiree growled but had no choice but to comply. In a second, the three Fentons Tucker had asked for appeared next to him, also lying flat on the ground. They sprung to their feet quickly.

“Next time warn us!” Jazz scolded him.

“I’ll be sure to pull a Technus and let the ghost know _exactly_ what I’ve got planned,” Tucker confirmed sarcastically.

“Where’s Danny, spook?” Jack demanded, ignoring the arguing teenagers.

Desiree smirked. “You won’t find him.”

“He wouldn’t have made a wish!” Tucker yelled, jabbing a finger in her direction.

“His girlfriend didn’t share the same qualms,” Desiree said, bored. She buffed her fingernails against her short top.

“Where are they?” Maddie shouted, her finger tightening on the trigger of the ecto-gun she was holding. “Answer or—”

“You’ll blow me out of the sky?” Desiree laughed unpleasantly. “Sorry, hon, but all that’ll accomplish is absolutely _nothing_.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Tucker said out of the corner of his mouth to Jazz.

“What?”

“I wish Danny and Sam were back with us!” Tucker shouted, grinning triumphantly.

Jazz blinked. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“You’re just not that good.”

She bopped him upside the head. In the meantime, Desiree was shooting figurative daggers at Tucker.

“So you have wished it,” she said in a menacing voice, “so it shall be!”

Although Tucker was glad his wish would be granted, he wasn’t so confident anymore when green smoke began materializing under Desiree’s flying form.

“I hope you haven’t gone and put your foot in your mouth this time, Tucker,” Jazz groused, also wary.

“I’m a politician, Jazz; it’s my job.”

“He’s got a point,” Jack said unashamedly.

Further arguing was cut off as tendrils of the smoke reached their shoes. Warily, they stepped back and watched as it thickened. Then, just as quickly as it had materialized, it began thinning, revealing two shapes in its midst. Before it had time to completely disappear, a green ecto-beam nailed Desiree in the chest, coming directly from the figure on the right.

“Argh!” Desiree was thrown upward.

She had no time to react further as a black and white blur bolted out of the cloud to grab her tail and swing her around in a complete circle before throwing her to the ground by Tucker’s and Jazz’s feet. By this time, the blur had solidified to reveal a very pissed off Danny Phantom.

“All right, Desiree. I’ll admit I had fun but that was definitely not cool! Hiding under the _Box Ghost_?”

Desiree picked herself up, glaring at the half-ghost. “If it works, it works. It certainly fooled you.”

Tucker wondered what Danny meant by having fun. How could something Desiree had been responsible for be fun?

Then he saw what Sam was wearing. His jaw dropped open.

She was wearing a _dress_. Admittedly, it wasn’t pink but it was a _dress_. Plus, she had her hair down and wasn’t wearing her combat boots.

“Is she wearing a dress?” Jazz asked incredulously, apparently having the same trouble Tucker was having in absorbing the sight.

Sam looked up at Danny. “Hey, Danny! Remember what I called dibs on?”

“It’s in the satchel and not on my ghost form.” Danny landed on the ground next to her, eyes still on Desiree.

“What’d you call dibs on?” Tucker asked, confused.

They didn’t answer as Desiree sprung on them. Danny grabbed her by the wrists and held her off.

“Mom! Thermos?”

Maddie began rummaging around her person. “Hold on a moment!”

“I thought you had it on your belt?” Jazz sounded dismayed.

“I _did_!”

While Maddie was still fussing over her belt and the missing thermos, Danny was wrestling with Desiree. She blasted him backwards with a gusher of water that came from a nearby fire hydrant.

Sopping wet now, Danny lifted his white hair out of his eyes and spat out some water he’d inadvertently swallowed. A thoughtful look crossed his face. “I gotta say, that tastes better than the water I had in the pub.”

“You were in a _pub_?” Jazz asked incredulously.

“Long story!” was all Danny could say before Desiree conjured several dozen knives and sent them hurtling his way.

He flitted through them and approached Desiree. A look of concentration overcame his face and all of a sudden—

_BANG!_

The four ghost hunters blinked as Desiree dropped like a stone to the street. They looked up to see Danny with a satchel by his side and a frying pan in his hand. He was looking pleasantly surprised.

“Whaddya know! Eugene was right after all!” He tossed the frying pan to his other hand, grinning mischievously. “It really is handy!”

Sam cleared her throat. “Danny?”

Rolling his eyes upward, Danny reached into the satchel and pulled out a long dagger. He tossed it down towards Sam, who easily caught it and unsheathed the blade to reveal that it was wickedly sharp.

That taken care of, Danny looked at his parents again. “Thermos?”

Maddie put up her hands, frustrated. “I don’t have it!”

Jack pursed his lips, a pensive look covering his face. In the meantime, Danny shot an ice blast at Desiree when he saw her stir. It froze her in a solid block.

“Overkill much?” Sam asked, coming over to poke the block with the toe of her black flat.

“A frying pan isn’t very helpful against a ghost,” Danny said, floating by her and prodding her chest with the frying pan’s head. He twirled it once and then tucked it away in the ghost space that Tucker was forever trying to figure out.

Suddenly, Jack exclaimed. “Ah ha!” He procured the thermos, a proud look covering his face. “I had it!”

Maddie stared at it, her eyebrows raised. “Didn’t _I_ have it?”

“Well…” Jack grinned sheepishly, letting Danny take the thermos and suck Desiree in. “I might have taken it to suck in that mailbox.”

“Jack…” Maddie sighed, shaking her head and holstering her ecto-gun.

“Where were you guys?” Jazz asked her little brother and his girlfriend.

Danny shrugged, transforming back into his human self. He found himself the recipient of dropped jaws as his family and best friend took in his new attire.

Tucker looked at his boots, which seemed to be made out of some kind of leather (how did Sam approve of that?). His pants were a khaki color and his shirt was white; the sleeves were folded up just below the elbow. He had a blue vest on that buttoned up almost to his neck; the top few buttons were open in a “V”.

“Were you guys at a Renaissance fair or something?” Tucker asked. “What’s up with your clothes?”

Danny and Sam shared glanced at each other, bright smiles breaking across their faces. “Well…”


End file.
